Hallowed
by FireKali Chaos
Summary: {TyKa - Complete} After an exhibition match in Boston is postponed, the Team has nothing to do for a whole weekend. Kenny suggests Tyson and Kai drive to Salem and take in the sights of the town where witches were not welcomed…
1. Part 01

**Authoress' Notes: **Yahoo! Halloween! I love Halloween! And what could be better but Halloween and TyKa!? (_Caitlin:_ Beware! Yami on a sugar high! O.O _Dryad_ Who gave her candy!? O.o)

**Disclaimer:** Don't own! Don't sue!

**Warnings:** Yaoi, language, fluffiness, etc. To all Fanfiction. net readers:_ if you're looking for the NC-17 version of this fic, go to either my homepage (see my bio), Only TyKa Hotness, or Mediaminer (FireKali)._

**Pairing: **TyKa! Hints of ReMa and Kenny/Hilary, too.

**Summary:** After an exhibition match in Boston is postponed, the Team has nothing to do for a whole weekend. Kenny suggests Tyson and Kai drive to Salem and take in the sights of the town where witches were not welcomed…

**Dedication:** To the members of my group, Anime Firefics, and to the members of the best place for TyKa in the world…OTKH! Happy Halloween everyone! Trick or treat! _hands out candy_

**_Hallowed_**

**Part 01**

"So…what is everyone going to do this weekend? Now that the tournament was postponed…" Hilary wondered, looking around at the group of teen-aged boys she'd come to count as her closest friends. Everyone was still dressed in his or her pajamas (except Kai, who was fully dressed), and lazing around the sitting area of their hotel suite after receiving the call from Mr. Dickenson informing them that their exhibition matches had been rescheduled for the following Tuesday.

"Well, you guys can go do whatever you like." Max shrugged, patting Rei's hand lightly since he was holding it firmly, the taller blader lying lengthways on the couch with his head pillowed in the blonde's lap. "I'll stay here with Rei and make sure he stays in bed and gets his rest."

The raven-haired blader sniffled and Max handed him a tissue. "I'm sorry, Maxie. I don't mean to ruin your fun." He sneezed and blew his nose. "I don't know where this nasty cold came from."

"It's not your fault, Rei."

"What about you, Kenny?" Hilary turned to her boyfriend. "Any suggestions?"

The brunette glanced up from his laptop with a smile. "Well, I was thinking that it would be really neat to either stay here in Boston and take a few tours to see some of the history of this city going back to colonial times, or drive up to Salem." He shivered. "I've pretty much decided on staying here."

"Hey! That sounds cool to me, Chief! I'll come with you on those tours." Hilary clapped her hands in excitement.

"What about you two?" Max gave Tyson and Kai a sideways glance. Their captain was leaning against the wall in his typical 'whatever' pose. The younger blader sitting on the easy-chair in front of Kai yawned in a show of boredom.

"I don't know about tours and stuff, Chief. I'd rather train, I think." Tyson made a face. Kai grunted behind him and cracked open an eye.

"That can easily be arranged, Kinomiya."

"Are you kidding? No way! Come on, Mr. Sourpants."

"Then what _will_ you do?"

"Uh…" Tyson frowned thoughtfully. "I'm not sure. What was that other idea you had, Chief?"

"Drive up to Salem." Kenny responded, shivering again.

"What's so special about that?"

"It's the place where, a really long time ago, there was this hysterical worry about witches and black magic – so much that there were these trials and a lot of so-called 'witches' were put to death." Max, the resident American, informed them in a dramatically spooky voice. "Actually, since this weekend _is_ Halloween, it would be really cool to go up to Salem and check it out. They do all kinds of stuff to celebrate Halloween there." The blonde grinned. "I hear they get really into it. You know – decorations, parties, haunted houses, mock witch trials, that kind of thing."

Tyson, who just so happened to be a horror-movie addict, perked up at the mention of haunted houses and witches. "Cool! That sounds like fun!" Then he drooped a little. "But…I don't want to go alone. That wouldn't be so much fun."

"Max and I would go, Tyson," Rei said sadly, "But I really don't think I should be running around a lot with this cold."

"And I don't want to leave him here by himself." Max added. He gave his friend an apologetic look.

"What about you two?" Tyson looked at Kenny and Hilary pleadingly.

"I forgot about Halloween." Kenny replied, looking rather hesitant about the whole idea. "It would have been spooky enough there _without_ all the extra stuff. I'm sorry, Tyson, but I don't think I could handle it. I'd only be a pain." He shivered again.

"Maybe next time, Tyson, we could all go." Hilary suggested, feeling a little sorry for the dragon as he slumped in his seat and looked so dejected. "I'm sure there's something else here in Boston that you might find just as fun as Salem…"

"Why don't you go with Kai?" Max blinked innocently when they all stared at him incredulously. "What? It's just a suggestion. I mean, even _Kai_ can't train _all_ the time. He needs to have some fun, too."

Tyson doubted the older blader would agree, but he figured he'd try anyway. Anything was better than sitting around the hotel suite all day for two days doing nothing and/or training the entire time. _If he says yes, then I'll get him all to myself for a whole weekend!_ He flushed a little at the thought. _Maybe I'd finally be able to find out if he could ever like me as much as I like him…_

Turning in his seat and giving Kai his very best sad, but cute, puppy-dog look, the bluenette stared up at his secret love pleadingly. "Kai? I don't suppose you'd be at all interested in going to Salem and checking the place out? Would you?"

Kai opened his eyes at the question and silently cursed himself when his own crimson orbs met the stormy silver-blue of Tyson's and had trapped him in an instant. _Damn! I made eye contact! Stupid, Kai…you can't resist that look, and you know it._

"I don't know why you're so eager to go there. It's probably just another tourist trap, like Las Vegas was." The dual haired teen gave his opinion flatly, knowing he'd already caved but determined to make sure the others didn't know that – especially Tyson.

"Aw…come on, Kai! Where's your sense of adventure? Or maybe it's too spooky for you?" Tyson drawled, giving him a challenging look. Kai frowned at him, bristling at the insinuation. The others watched with widened eyes, their gazes darting back and forth between the two as if they were watching a tennis match.

"It is _not_."

"Yeah? Prove it." Tyson crossed his arms over his chest smugly.

"I don't have to prove anything, Kinomiya." Kai gave him one of his patented ice-cold glares, beginning to get annoyed now. He straightened, pushing away from the wall and turning away as if he was about to leave.

Realizing he'd pushed a little too much, Tyson hastily tried to rectify his mistake and placate the phoenix. "Okay! Okay. Look, Kai, I'll make you a deal: we don't have to stay. We can just go up there, look around, and if we don't find anything we're _both_ interested in doing, we can come back right away, alright?"

Kai stood with his back to them all and smiled to himself since none of them could see it. He pretended to think about it for a moment, then sighed, as if it was a huge inconvenience to him somehow.

"Fine. I'll go. But _only_ because _someone_ has to keep an eye on you to keep you out of trouble. Besides, you'd probably get lost or something on your own and that would be really unfortunate before the tournament."

"Hey!" Tyson exclaimed indignantly, the insult stinging until it dawned on him that Kai had just agreed to go with him. "Wait…you mean we're going? Yahoo!!!!" He jumped up and glomped Kai in his excitement before he realized what he was doing.

"Oomph! Tyson, get off me and go get ready. If you're not out front in ten minutes we won't go anywhere." Kai ordered, fighting off a flush at the bluenette's closeness and the strange tingling sensations that made his nerves sing wherever Tyson was touching him.

Tyson blinked, turned pink, and quickly let go, dashing off to his room to change and get ready.

As soon as Kai disappeared out the door, the remaining members of the Bladebreakers exchanged startled, curious gazes.

"Did that seem a little weird to you guys, too, or was it just me?" Hilary inquired in a stage whisper, casting suspecting glances at Tyson's bedroom door.

"Yeah. I mean, Tyson sure turned an interesting shade of red." Max snickered. "And Kai looked rather uncomfortable, too."

"You don't suppose they…_like_ each other? Do you?" Kenny hypothesized.

"I don't know, Chief. Would it be bad if they did?" Rei wanted to know, his voice soft but nasal sounding because of his cold. He sneezed again and scowled at himself.

"No! Of course not. Actually, it would be good because then maybe they'd stop bickering all the time." Kenny sighed. "I'd swear those two were an old married couple the way they go at it sometimes."

The others chuckled in agreement.

"Well, if they do, I guess this weekend they spend together should be very revealing." Max grinned. "I say Tyson cracks first and asks Kai out by the time they come back."

"$10 says Kai asks Tyson out by the time they come back." Rei countered.

"You're on."

"And $20 says they skip the first date and just jump each other at the first available opportunity." Hilary cross-countered, smiling angelically at their shocked expressions.

"Hilary!" Kenny protested.

"Oh…like you weren't thinking the same thing, Chief."

Kenny sighed and shrugged, and Max and Rei exchanged glances and raised eyebrows.

"Deal!" They chorused, shaking one another's hand then Hilary's to seal the bet.

* * *

**Authoress' Notes:** I know it's kind of short. But I just sort of whipped this up at the last minute today. _sheepish grin & sweatdrop_ More to come soon**! Please R/R!!**


	2. Part 02

**Authoress' Notes: **Here we go! Part 2… I'm having fun writing this one! Is it just me, or do conversations in a car when on a trip somewhere always reveal stuff you never knew about someone? O.o

**Disclaimer:** Don't own! Don't sue!

**Warnings:** Yaoi, language, fluffiness, etc. readers:_ if you're looking for the NC-17 version of this fic, go to either my homepage (see my bio), Only TyKa Hotness, or _

**Pairing: **TyKa! Hints of ReMa and Kenny/Hilary, too.

**Hallowed **

****

**Part 02**

With less than a minute to spare, Tyson walked out of the hotel's front doors with his bag thrown over his shoulder. He grinned at the view down the steps from him, where Kai was leaning against a parked car, arms folded over his chest and one ankle crossed over the other casually. The crimson eyed blader wore a pair of dark tinted sunglasses and the wind ruffled his dual shaded hair gently. He looked aloof, bored, and unapproachable. Tyson, however, knew better – or at least he knew that he was one of few people who could (and would) just walk up to Kai and talk to him uninvited without risking life and limb.

And so that's exactly what he did.

"I'm ready, Kai! Let's go!" The dragon stepped up to the car and let the strap of his bag slide down his arm to his hand. "Nice car, Kai. Rental?"

"Hn. It was this or a minivan." Kai made a noise of displeasure at even the _thought_ of driving a minivan as he pushed away from the slick, black, shiny, two door Saturn. "Put that in the trunk." He said, pressing a button on the remote starter he had in one hand while gesturing at Tyson's bag with the other. Then he walked around to the driver's side and got in.

Tyson stowed his bag and slid into the passenger seat. "How come you always get to drive?" He asked, pretending to pout. He couldn't see Kai roll his eyes behind his sunglasses but he could guess that's what the phoenix did. He knew Kai well enough by now, after all.

"Maybe because I'm older and have had more experience than you, Kinomiya." Kai snickered as he pulled way from the curb. "And maybe because it took you _how many_ tries to get your licence in the first place?"

Slouching a bit, Tyson scowled and put on his own pair of sunglasses. "So I failed once or twice. Big deal. If _you_ had taught me how to drive – and how to parallel park properly – instead of Gramps, then maybe I'd have done better."

"You let _Gramps_ teach you?" Kai repeated incredulously. "Shit, Tyson…"

"Who else? Kenny's still too young, Rei wasn't around, Max was visiting his mom, and no _way_ I'd ask Hilary to teach me _anything_, let alone how to drive." Tyson shuddered to emphasize that horror. "And Hiro was always busy and I didn't want to bother him with it, so…"

"Still! Gramps?" Kai gave the younger teen a quick sideways look. "You should have called me, Kinomiya. At least your chances of getting into an accident would have been a while lot less." He paused. "Why didn't you call anyway?" Kai queried softly.

Tyson sighed. Kai had a point, really. Gramps didn't have a licence either – not for driving, anyway. Fishing yes. Driving no.

"Yeah, well, it doesn't matter much now, does it." He stared out the window at the passing buildings. "And I didn't call you and ask because…I was scared you'd just laugh at me or flat out refuse since you're always busy and I'd just be a bother." The bluenette refused to look at Kai now and because of that, missed the startled expression that passed over Kai's face when he glanced over.

The phoenix had to take a moment to shove back the feeling of hurt that welled up. He had thought Tyson knew by now that he was the one person in the world that could never 'bother' Kai. _Apparently not._ Kai grumbled to himself silently. _Honestly. What do I have to do? Hit him over the head with it?"_

"I wouldn't have been too busy for something as important as that. And where the hell did you get the idea I would laugh at you? You don't give me any credit at all, do you?"

"What do you mean, 'where?'" Tyson demanded, glaring out the front windshield now. "You don't exactly give off an inviting impression, you know. _And_, if you'll recall the prom, when I asked all of you guys to teach me how to dance _you_ laughed at me!"

"You're never going to forgive me about that are you?" Kai said wryly. "I said I was sorry about that. It just struck me as funny that someone with all your skills and training as a world class blader and with your martial arts training you hadn't learned how to dance yet, that's all. I wasn't laughing at _you_…just the situation."

"You laughed." Tyson sniffed and crossed his arms. "And you wonder why I don't ask you to teach me stuff anymore."

Silence descended on them for awhile after that. Kai didn't have anything to say (as usual) and Tyson seemed to be content to watch the autumn scenery of New England as they continued driving up the coast toward Salem.

Eventually, however, the quiet got on Tyson's nerves and he reached for the radio. He turned it on and began station surfing. Glancing over at Kai, Tyson raised a questioning eyebrow.

"You don't mind if I listen to the radio, do you?"

"Whatever. It doesn't bother me. As long as it's not that awful twang-y stuff these Americans seem to like so much." Kai clarified, shuddering. "I swear that stuff gives me an instant migraine."

Tyson gave him an odd look, not understanding. "Twang-y? Oh! You mean country music!"

"Yeah. That."

The bluenette had to laugh at the pained tone of Kai's voice. "Don't worry. I don't like it much either. Not my style." He frowned thoughtfully, settling on a rock station before sitting back comfortably in his seat. "It could have something to do with Gramps blaring it at home all the time, though…"

Somehow that didn't surprise Kai much. It sounded like something Tyson's wacky grandfather would do.

"So why don't _you_ like country?" Tyson asked curiously. He was forever trying to learn more about the crimson eyed captain, since he didn't know a lot of the little personal details about him – despite the many years they'd known each other now. "And what sort of music _do_ you like, anyway?"

Kai shrugged. "I don't like country music for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is how it sounds. It all has nearly the same sound to it – there's just not enough variety from song to song for me."

"You have a point there." Tyson agreed with that.

"Then there's the lyrics. I swear it's all the same – he or she gets dumped, or loses their significant other somehow, and they have to bitch and complain about it one way or another. It's like the same old story about love told a million different ways. It gets old." Kai made an indelicate sound. "Basically, they're all about love and all the woes that go with it. What I want to know is if love is so awful, then why do people bother?"

The dragon listened attentively with wide eyes. Tyson was pretty sure that this had been the most conversation he'd ever gotten out of Kai before – not including their many, diverse arguments, of course.

"Do you not believe in love, then?" He inquired in a soft voice.

Kai hesitated, frowning slightly at the question. Something in Tyson's voice hinted that whatever he said was going to be very important to the dragon. Kai didn't have a clue _why_ it seemed to matter, but he was sure it did. "I don't know. I don't remember my parents or if they loved me. My grandfather…well, you know." He caught Tyson's nod of affirmation with a quick side-glance. "And I don't have a relationship of any kind with anyone so…I guess it's possible." He sighed. "Just not for me."

Tyson stared at him in shock and a sad sort of sympathy. "Don't think that way, Kai! I'm sure you'll find someone someday! Some lucky girl…right?" Tyson protested, feeling quite proud of himself for sneaking in a veiled attempt to find out Kai's preferences. He just hoped Kai answered.

The phoenix felt his face heat up and he gripped the steering wheel tightly. "You sound awfully certain of that, Kinomiya. And why does it have to be a girl? I could be gay – or bisexual – for all you know."

"Eh heh…" Tyson blushed and scratched his head sheepishly. "I _don't_ know. So much for being sneaky about it, huh?"

Kai rolled his eyes. "I know you too well, Tyson. It's really hard for _you_ to catch _me_ off guard anymore."

Tyson huffed. "Don't be so sure. I'll surprise you someday."

"Does it matter one way or the other?" Kai asked suddenly. For reasons totally alien to him, he discovered he _wanted_ to know if sexual preference _did_ matter to Tyson at all. He didn't think it did, but he _needed_ to know.

"What? If you're gay or not?" At Kai's short nod, the dragon shook his head. "I wouldn't care if you were _flaming_ gay, Kai. You'd still be you, I'd still be me, birds would keep flying and fish would keep swimming. In other words, nothing would have changed."

"I get the point." Kai smiled slightly, a swell of relief washing through him. "Thanks."

"I didn't do anything." Tyson shrugged it off. "It's just the truth. I'm friends with a robot, after all." He turned in his seat to face Kai, adjusting his seatbelt to accommodate his new position. Feeling bolder now that the older teen appeared to be in a more open frame of mind with him at the moment, Tyson asked bluntly, "So are you?"

Kai had been expecting the question and didn't even blink when he replied innocently, "This is our exit. Am I what?" He steered the car up the off ramp and headed toward Salem on the last little part of their drive.

Tyson looked around, momentarily distracted, before giving his captain a small scowl. "Come on, Kai! I wanna know!"

Sighing heavily with the knowledge of the bluenette wouldn't be distracted, Kai tried diverting the question instead.

"Why do you want to know so badly? It doesn't matter, like you said."

Tyson growled in exasperation. "I just want to know! And I'm beginning to suspect you _are_ because of how you're avoiding answering me."

Kai cursed mentally. _How can I explain it to him? He's not stupid. Of course he'd catch on and figure it out._ "Alright, fine. If you'll leave me alone about it – and _you_ have to tell me if you are or not, too – then I'll tell you."

"Deal. So?"

"You first."

"No way. You offered, you confess first."

"Crap. Okay, the truth is…"

Tyson unconsciously leaned closer, eager to hear the truth. "Yeah?"

"I suspect I am but I don't really know." Kai said in a rush of words, turning a healthy shade of red and shifting uncomfortably under Tyson's gaze.

"You don't know? How can you not know?" The younger blader held up a hand. "Never mind. I guess it _is_ something that's kind of confusing." He angled his head at Kai consideringly. "Maybe I can help somehow…"

Kai looked at him sharply, a small thrill shooting up and down his spine. "Uh…I don't see how…"

"Not like _that_! Hentai."

"I wasn't…" Kai blushed furiously. "_Tyson_!"

"Whatever. I meant maybe I can help you figure it out by asking you a few things." Tyson let it drop, not wanting the older teen to clam up completely at this point.

"Like?" Kai was beginning to dread the entire conversation.

"Well…to start with, what makes you suspect you are?"

"I guess…because…I haven't met a girl yet that interested me." The phoenix replied slowly. The blush was beginning to fade, which Kai was profoundly grateful for.

"Uh huh. Then I assume another indicator would be that you have met a _guy_ that interested you, right?"

Kai fought the urge to squirm in his seat. "Do we have to talk about this?"

"Are you kidding?! It's just getting interesting!" Tyson grinned at him. "Don't worry, Kai. I swear on Dragoon that whatever is said within this car will stay between us." He sat back properly in his seat again, hoping to make Kai more comfortable if he wasn't looking right at him the whole time. "So is there a guy? You don't have to tell me his name or anything…"

"Hn." Kai made his usual noise that could be taken either way. He really didn't like the direction this was going because he just _knew_ Tyson would eventually try to wheedle details out of him and the phoenix _really_ wasn't prepared to admit to even himself yet that it was _Tyson_ who interested Kai that much, let alone to tell Tyson that.

"I'll take that as a yes." Tyson nodded sagely. "Well, I'd have to say that, at the very least, you like guys. So I guess you're at least bi."

The older blader could feel that blush creeping back onto his face again. "Fine. Is that your _expert_ opinion?" He demanded archly, giving the World Champ a raised eyebrow.

For some reason he felt a whole lot better when Tyson blushed hotly and stared fixedly out the front windshield. "Yes." Came the low reply. "Hey look! We're here!"

"I know. And don't change the subject." Kai found a parking spot in front of a flower shop and pulled in, parking. He left the car running and turned to give Tyson his turn at an inquisition. "You got all that out of me and now it's your turn. Spill."

"But…" Tyson tugged at his sleeve restlessly and reached for the door handle, intending to make a run for it.

And found it locked.

He looked back at Kai, who had his hand over the console on the driver's side door. He'd pushed the 'lock' button to trap the bluenette.

"Damn it! Stupid child-safety locks!" Tyson cursed and Kai smirked.

"I'm not letting you out until you reciprocate, Kinomiya. All's fair, after all…"

"What exactly do you want to know?" Tyson asked, warily.

"Hmm…how about how you knew you were gay." Kai folded his arms and regarded the bluenette evenly, waiting with determination.

Tyson felt a bubble of pure panic under his embarrassment. _Oh Gods, oh Gods, oh Gods! How am I going to get out of this one? I can't tell him it's because of him!_ He wanted to just crawl under the seat and die.

"Uh…well…you see…I just knew?" He tried, wilting under the disbelieving, faintly annoyed, look Kai gave him.

"What's wrong, Kinomiya? You don't trust me enough to tell me?" Kai made sure his voice was laced with hurt. He didn't _really_ think that, of course. He knew Tyson had always had an almost unnatural trust in him – which Kai was sure he'd never understand _why_ for the life of him.

He was right, too – if the immediate expression of surprise and how quick Tyson was to protest was anything to go by.

"That's not true! Of course I trust you, Kai! It's…it's just that…" the bluenette faltered, lowering his storm-blue eyes to stare at his fidgeting hands. "I…fell in love…with someone. And he's…a guy. So…yeah. That's how I knew."

Kai's stomach dropped to his feet and his heart clenched. He knew the younger blader wasn't lying this time. Swallowing around the lump in his throat, he managed to say, "I see." before he hit the 'lock' button again and the doors unlocked with a soft, mechanical _click_ in the heavy silence. Tyson looked up in time to see his captain turn off the car and make to get out of it as he continued in a subdued voice to speak. "That wasn't so hard, was it? Now, let's go see if the trip up here was worth it or not, Kinomiya." Kai stepped out of the car.

Tyson nodded hastily and got out, too. Looking around with renewed interest, he smiled. "Oh wow! Max wasn't kidding about Salem going all-out for Halloween! Look at this place!"

"It's rather…overdone." Kai eyed the street they were on with distaste. "So many decorations aren't necessary, are they?"

Tyson shrugged. "It's all done in fun, Kai. I bet they do most of it for the benefit of us tourists anyway."

"Benefit?" Kai shook his head at that and followed Tyson as he began to walk down the street. "Where are we going?"

"Nowhere specific. Let's walk up and down the street first, okay? Maybe we'll see something interesting or find a cool store or something." Tyson beamed excitedly. "Hey! Think we should get souvenirs for the others?"

"Whatever."

Kai simply followed his eager younger team mate, putting aside the startling confession Tyson had made in the car to analyze and agonize over later.

* * *

**Authoress' Notes:** I know I put this in a 'suspense' category, and there hasn't been anything suspenseful yet, but I swear it's coming! _sweatdrops_ Bear with me, folks.** Please R/R!!!!**


	3. Part 03

**Authoress' Notes: **Part 03! Sorry it's taking so long, everyone. It's crunch time in university for me so…yeah. Stick with it! For those who don't have a clue about Halloween, I hope I'm able to educate you a little with this chapter…but even I don't know everything. I just wanted to give everyone a little history and overview of it, help you understand some of it better.

**Disclaimer:** Don't own! Don't sue!

**Warnings:** Yaoi, language, fluffiness, etc. readers: _ if you're looking for the NC-17 version of this fic, go to either my homepage (see my bio), Only TyKa Hotness, or (FireKali)._

**Pairing: **TyKa! Hints of ReMa and Kenny/Hilary, too.

**Hallowed **

**Part 03**

It only took an hour and a half of following Tyson around for Kai to get bored. He did realize that everything _might_ have been more interesting if he knew more about this semi-holiday these people were making such a big deal about. Like many foreign people, Kai only knew that Halloween was a day where children (and adults for that matter) would put on costumes and run from door to door in their towns asking for candy by saying "trick or treat!" and that Halloween was supposed to be a spooky night for reasons Kai didn't understand.

"I don't get it." He muttered for the millionth time as he and Tyson left yet another store that had caught the bluenette's attention. This time it was a music store and Tyson had just had to buy a couple of CDs. Actually, Kai hadn't minded that so much, and he'd found a CD for himself. _It was better than the last store._ He thought with a shudder. _That costume place was insane! So crowded and all those masks and things were very unnerving._

At least he'd managed to keep Tyson from buying anything from there.

"Okay, already, Kai!" Tyson rolled his eyes in exasperation. "I get it! You don't have to keep repeating yourself."

"Do _you_ get it?" Kai demanded.

"Not really. But it doesn't matter! It's about the fun, Kai. Lighten up, would you?"

The crimson eyed blader just grunted and kept walking, making Tyson sigh and hurry after him.

They walked for another five minutes until they reached the end of the street. As they were waiting for the lights to change so they could cross, Tyson spotted as tore that he just had to go into – well, make that two stores.

"Hey! A hobby shop that sells Beyblade stuff!" He exclaimed, pointing. Kai looked and finally showed some interest.

"Now _that's_ more like it." He declared, stepping off the sidewalk as the 'walk' light lit up. "We're going in there for sure."

"Well, I really want to go to the one next to it." Tyson glanced from one building to the next as they stopped outside the Hobby Shop. "After all, we get our gear and stuff directly from the BBA and even then Kenny does his thing and personalizes everything for us. What could we possibly find in there?"

"I don't know, Kinomiya. That's the fun part you keep telling me I need to have." Kai shot back. "What's the other one supposed to sell?"

"I think it's a new age store. You know – the kind that sells crystals, tarot cards, candles, books, etc."

The older teen gave him a look. "_What_ could you possibly want in there?"

"I just want to look! Maybe I'll find some cool souvenirs for the others." Tyson huffed defensively.

"Tyson, you already bought each of them those little pins of ghosts and those miniature fake pumpkins with the weird faces carved into them."

"So? Max and Rei couldn't come so I'll bring them back lots of stuff, and the same for Kenny and Hilary since the Chief was too freaked about coming here."

"Whatever." Kai sighed in resignation, turning to go into the hobby shop. "It's your waste of money."

"Wet blanket. I'll be in this store if you're done here before I am." Tyson huffed again and went his separate way. Kai rolled his eyes and went inside to browse for blade parts.

* * *

As Tyson stepped over the threshold and into the store, aptly named _Mystic Illusions_, accompanied by a tinkling noise from the door chimes above his head, he felt like he'd entered a whole new world.

The building itself was old, which Tyson had known from its appearance outside. Inside it seemed even older. Everything was made of wood – the floor, the walls, the ceiling (which was vaulted) the shelves – everything. And it was quite obvious that the wood had been around for a very long time, not only by how it looked but by how the store smelled of old wood.

It was also quiet inside. The bluenette realized he couldn't hear any of the sounds and noises of the world outside. The only thing he could hear was a soft melody of music coming from the counter toward the back of the store, upon which sat a small CD player.

And it was quite dark compared to the brightness of the afternoon sun outside. Unlike the other shops and stores he'd been in today, this one wasn't being illuminated by florescent or halogen lighting. There were only a few regular electric lamps scattered around the place and quite a few candles lit to brighten the interior up.

Intrigued, Tyson moved slowly among the shelves, browsing idly with interest. He found a display of brightly coloured stones and crystals. He became so absorbed that he failed to notice the pair of bright emerald green eyes staring down at him from just above his head.

Choosing a crystal piece for himself and each of his teammates (even Kai, who wouldn't buy a souvenir for himself if his life depended on it), Tyson accidentally dropped one on the floor. "Oops." He said, bending to pick it up and put it back.

As his hand closed around the crystal, a black blur suddenly leapt down from above and landed on him, knocking him over to do a face plant on the wooden floor. Tyson yelped and groaned as he sat up. "_Itai_…my nose!" He raised a hand to gingerly poke at it and came away with a bit of blood on his fingers. "Gweat. A bwoody node." **(1)**

"Merow?"

Tyson blinked, feebly reaching into his coat pocket for a tissue and pinching his nose to try and stop the bleeding. He turned his head and glared into those emerald eyes that belonged to a very black cat.

"Hello? Is there someone…oh! Oh dear…" A young woman appeared at Tyson's side, crouching down next to him. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"Dat." Tyson pointed at the cat. "Jumbed on me."

The woman looked at the cat and scolded it softly. "Nicodemus! Shame on you!" She helped Tyson stand up and led him to a chair behind the counter. "Here. Have a seat. I'm so sorry about that. Nico is usually quite friendly and he doesn't normally jump on people." She sighed, shaking her head and pulling out a box of tissues for the bluenette. "I think it's because tomorrow is Halloween and because we just had that full-moon and total lunar eclipse a couple of days ago. It makes many animals act a bit strangely."

"Hn." Tyson settled for making a Kai-noise since he couldn't really say anything coherent at the moment.

"Let me see…" The woman pried his hand away and studied his nose critically. "Well, it's not broken. And it seems to have stopped bleeding. You may have a bit of a bruise though."

Tyson frowned and poked at his nose gingerly once again, testing it for himself. "_Itai_! Okay, I'm not doing that again." He glanced at the woman. "Who are you? Are you the store's owner?"

"Yes. My name is Maggie MacGowan." She gave him a soft smile. "Welcome to my shop."

Tyson tried to smile his usual, personable grin, but his nose hurt too much. "Ah…nice to meet you. I'm Tyson Kinomiya." He held out his hand and she grasped it lightly, shaking slowly.

"A pleasure. I apologize again for Nicodemus."

"It's okay. I've had worse bumps and bruises from my grandfather." Tyson shook his head, chuckling. At her surprised and concerned look, he laughed. "Oh! Not what you're thinking! My Gramps is a Kendo expert. He's been training me since I was little."

"I see!" Maggie sighed in relief and smiled again. "Goodness!" She leaned her hip against the counter and folded her arms. Tyson finally took notice of her appearance. She wasn't quite as tall as he was, and her petite frame was draped with a white dress that looked more like complicated layers of sheets of material – different kinds of material, even. The gown-like dress gave her an almost ethereal look. Her hair was a deep chestnut brown and held in an elaborate, thick braid that was draped across her shoulder and hung almost to her waist, with a set of smaller ones wreathed around her head like a crown. Maggie's eyes were a vibrant amethyst, the same shade that reminded Tyson of the orchids his grandfather had planted once last summer.

Those eyes studied the bluenette curiously for a moment. "Tyson Kinomiya…? That name sounds very familiar to me for some reason."

Tyson turned pink and looked down at his shoes. "Ah…probably. Do you know anything about Beyblading?"

"A bit. I know how the game works, and of course I know the power of the spirits many bladers have, but I'm afraid I don't follow the sport on TV and such." She gave him an apologetic smile. "I may pick up a few tid-bits on the evening news, though."

"I see. Well, I'm a three-time World Champion, if that helps. My team and I are the Bladebreakers – though my last championship was with a team known as the BBA Revolution." Tyson explained, unable to help the bit of pride he still felt over his career at blading and the teams made of his closest friends that had helped him to do it.

"Oh! Yes, of course." Maggie nodded. "I remember now. That was two or three years ago, wasn't it? I remember because those were the matches I _had_ kept an eye on. There hasn't been power and skill like that which was demonstrated then before or since." Maggie tilted her head and laughed at Tyson's somewhat astonished and puzzled expression. "Your Spirits' are those of the Four, are they not? Dranzer and Dragoon, Draciel and Driger?"

"Yeah…" Tyson confirmed, wide-eyed. "I'm curious to know how you know about our bit-beasts' true selves. Only a few other people, besides us, know that."

"I'm a witch, Tyson. We are fully conscious of the powers that exist in this world and the Sacred Spirits are just a few of them. The Four are, of course, quite special on their own, so naturally I would know of them."

"A witch? Really?" Tyson's silver-blue eyes went even wider – if that was possible.

"Certainly. But don't worry…we aren't the evil, spell-casting crones you're probably thinking of." Maggie winked at him and the black cat, Nicodemus, suddenly jumped up onto the counter beside her, purring loudly. "True witches are what you might call 'white witches', who practice only good 'magic'. It's part of our faith, called Wicca."

"Wow. I didn't know that." Tyson smiled, careful not to bother his nose more. "I've never met a real witch before. I have met a team of bladers that are pretty freaky guys, though." He shivered at the memory of his encounters with the Dark Bladers.

Maggie grinned. "Well, it is an honour to meet the Chosen of Sacred Dragoon. If I may ask, what brought you to Salem, and what led you to my humble shop?"

"Well, we're in Boston for an exhibition tournament, but for some reason our battles got rescheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday." The dragon explained. "So we found ourselves with nothing to do for a whole weekend. Rei caught a could, so he stayed back at the hotel, and Max doesn't go very far from him so he stayed, too, supposedly to make Rei 'rest'." Tyson snickered. "I don't believe _that_ part of it for a second, but whatever. Kenny decided he wanted to check out Boston and Hilary wanted to go with him, so that left me and our captain, Kai. Kenny suggested we come up to Salem to check this place out, what with this Halloween thing going on and all, so here we are." He looked around the shop. "Kai and I decided to do some shopping while we were here. Well, _I_ wanted to get souvenirs for the others. _He_ just tags along and keeps me from spending all my money at once." Tyson rolled his eyes. "We split up 'cause _he_ wanted to go look at Beyblade stuff next door and _I_ wanted to check out your store 'cause I thought I'd find some great stuff for the others. Like those crystal-things I was looking at when that cat jumped on me."

"Oh yes! I meant to pick those up and set them on the counter for you." She went around the counter and over to the shelves where Tyson had been, picking the crystal-pieces up from the floor and returning to the counter. "And as an apology from Nico and myself, I want you to take those for free, and anything else you might want I'll give you a 50 discount on it."

Tyson blinked. "Uh…thanks, Maggie, but you don't have to do that…"

"No, but we insist!" She replied firmly. Nicodemus meowed quite loudly in an echo of his mistress' words. Tyson eyed the cat warily.

"That's very generous of you. Thank you." He accepted.

Maggie waved it off. "I'd offer to heal you as well, but I'm afraid I haven't got my supplies here at the shop for such things. Now, why don't you look around some more and see if you like anything else. I'd be happy to help you find something…"

"Okay!" Tyson nodded and stood up slowly, to avoid the possible vertigo from his nose bleed and pain from the injury.

"Tell me about each of your friends, and I will lend a hand, if I am able."

For nearly ten minutes, Tyson told Maggie about his friends, chatting amicably with the pixie-like Wiccan and telling her stories of their adventures and travels. When he finally decided he had better stop before he got to far ahead of himself, Tyson ended up with two books for Kenny and Max, an Egyptian-style statuette of Bastet **(2)** for Rei, a set of Celtic tarot cards for Hilary and some incense sticks for Gramps, on top of the crystals he'd chosen for them already.

He still had one last person to get something for, though. _And Kai just has to be the hardest person in the world to buy for, too. _Tyson groaned inwardly.

"What do you give to someone who can afford to buy whatever he wants, whenever he wants – if he doesn't already have three of it?" The young blader asked mournfully. "I have to get him something. He'd never buy something for himself in a million years."

Maggie thought about that for a moment as she proceeded to ring up his other purchases and carefully box and bag them. "Well…"

It was then Tyson noticed a sign on the counter. "Hey! Charms! 'For prosperity, for luck, for dreaming, for protection, for wisdom, and…'" Tyson stopped as he read the last one on the list.

"Love." Maggie nodded, watching him. Her expression went soft at the look on his face. "You look quite sad about that subject, Tyson. Perhaps you need one of those?"

He looked over at her and blushed slightly. "Am I that obvious? I suppose you know who, already, too."

"I have an inkling, yes." She gave him a gentle smile. "I'd be happy to make one for you, Tyson. It might help. But you have to realize that love is something no one can control. The charm's purpose is only to _encourage_ one to find their mate and to draw one's mate to them – if indeed there _is_ someone out there for you. It can not make someone fall in love with someone else."

Tyson looked rather horrified at that. "Gods, no! I would never do that to…" He swallowed back Kai's name quickly. "…That person." He continued. "They've been forced to do a lot of things in their life that they didn't want to do and I couldn't try doing that ever to them."

Maggie reached out and patted his hand fondly. "You have a good and honest heart, Tyson. Wait right here, and I'll go make you a charm, okay? It won't take more than five minutes."

"Alright. Kai knows where to find me. He can't really leave me behind. If Rei doesn't get better by the start of the tournament, they'll really need me for it." Tyson shook his head wryly. He waited patiently for Maggie as she disappeared into the back area of her shop to make his charm.

Less than two minutes had passed when the chimes above the shop's door rang out in the quiet as the door opened. Tyson glanced back and felt a jolt of apprehension as he saw Kai come inside and glance around as he made his way carefully through the isles toward him.

"You're still in here? What's taking so long?" The dual haired blader eyed the bags on the counter and sighed resignedly. "What did you buy, now, Kinomiya?"

"Uh…some stuff for the others, that's all. A couple of books, a little statue, and a couple of other things. Don't worry, Kai! I didn't spend all my money." Tyson hastened to assure his frowning captain.

"You do remember we have to take all this stuff home, right? Through customs and everything?" Kai gave him his best raised eyebrow look and Tyson sighed.

"Yes, Kai. I remember. I didn't buy anything…questionable. Geez! Give me some credit, would you?"

"Hn." Kai peered at Tyson in the low lighting, noticing the darkening area around his nose with a concerned frown. "What happened to your nose? It looks bruised. Did you walk into a door or something?"

"No-o. I didn't." Tyson huffed indignantly. He explained what happened and by the end of the tale he nearly fell over at the sight of his serious captain looking like he was trying _really_ hard not to laugh. "It's not funny, Kai. It hurt like hell!"

A snicker escaped. "I'm sure it did. A cat?"

Tyson gave him a glare and looked away, blushing.

"Heh. Why _are_ you still in here, anyway?" Kai let it go, not really in the mood to deal with a peeved Tyson at the moment. "There's no one even here."

"Yes. Maggie's in the back getting the last of my purchases for me. She had to make it." Tyson pretended to be absorbed by a display of scented oils beside the counter, avoiding looking at Kai as best he could.

"What?"

"Just a charm." Tyson responded vaguely.

Kai watched him suspiciously but didn't get the chance to make further demanding inquiries because Maggie reappeared then, the black cat Tyson had told him about riding partially draped over her shoulder and supported by an arm. Her eyes met his and he could have sworn she looked straight into his very soul for a brief second before she smiled in welcome and handed something to Tyson.

"There you are, Tyson. You just need to place that under your pillow when you sleep at night and wear the necklace all the time, not removing it for any reason until or unless you find what you're looking for – or it finds you." She instructed. Turning to Kai, she said, "And you must be Kai. It is certainly an honour to meet the Chosen of Sacred Dranzer, and to have you both in my shop."

Kai blinked in surprise, completely taken off guard, and glanced at his team member for a an explanation.

"Maggie is a witch, Kai. She's Wiccan. She says she knows all about our bit-beasts and stuff."

"Is that so." This time Tyson got a sceptical, 'are you serious?' kind of look. Kai obviously didn't really believe it.

"Whether you believe in that sort of thing or not, Kai, doesn't matter." The bluenette just shrugged. "Anyway, thanks for everything, Maggie."

"You are most welcome here anytime, Tyson."

Kai studied the woman with his customary suspicion and gave her a considering look. "Perhaps you can explain something to me." Tyson glanced at him, looking vaguely worried.

"Kai?"

"What? You say she's a witch…so she ought to know what Halloween is about, right?"

Tyson sighed, giving up. "You're still going on about that?" He waved a hand. "Whatever."

Maggie leaned forward over the counter with interest. "I definitely know something of Halloween, Kai. What would you like to know?"

"Everything? I know nothing but what I've seen on television – kids running around asking for candy."

"Ah. Well, in truth, that wasn't what Halloween was originally. 'Halloween' comes from a holy day known as All Hallow's Eve. And that night is the one night of the year, it is said, that the spirits of the dead are said to be able to walk among the living again. Before the candy and commercialism, it was believed that on that night wearing a costume would protect children from mischievous or malevolent spirits because the spirits couldn't distinguish the costumes from themselves. Many of the little things you often see now are based on very old traditions. Like the carving of pumpkins – jack 'o lanterns, they are called. It was believed that the strange faces scared away evil and protected homes or shops."

"I think I understand. But where do all these beliefs come from? Old superstitions from settlers or something?"

Maggie shook her head. "No. They are really very old. The true name for Halloween is _Samhain_. **(3)** It's an ancient Celtic day – a high holy day, in fact. It marks the end of the year on the Celtic calendar, the end of the 13th month."

Both teens blinked. "Thirteenth?" They chorused, then looked at each other and blushed. Maggie smiled.

"Yes. It seems a little strange, I know. The last month is actually less than a week long. It's all a great deal more complicated than this, of course, but I don't think you really want to hear the entirety of my beliefs as a Wiccan. It's the old Celtic traditions that most Wiccans follow, you see."

"Oh. Well, I still don't understand all that…" Kai gestured over his shoulder at the world outside the shop. "But I suppose it makes more sense now. Thank you." He said politely.

"My pleasure. I don't mind answering questions like that. It's very sad that many people even here don't realize the true roots of many special days we celebrate."

Kai nodded. He couldn't disagree with that. "We should go, Tyson."

"Okay." Tyson reached for his bags. "Oh! Is there anything in town that you'd recommend us seeing or doing while we're here?"

"I put some pamphlets and brochures in one of your bags. All the shops and stores along the street here in the old district are supposed to distribute them to the tourists and such. The graveyards are really quite interesting, if you go during the day. I don't recommend going at night, though." Maggie informed him. "I don't pay much attention to the tourism around here, truthfully. I find it in bad taste." She shrugged.

"Great! Thanks, Maggie! See you!" Tyson waved as he followed Kai to the door.

"Fare well, Tyson!"

* * *

Kai popped open the trunk of the car and left Tyson to stuff his purchases in it. The older blader opened the driver's side door and got in.

Tyson joined him a moment later. "Here's those pamphlets. Let's see if there's anything cool to do." He handed a couple to Kai and opened one himself. "Hmm…let's see…"

Reluctantly, Kai flipped one open. "This one's the special events being held in the bars and clubs. You're not interested in that, are you?"

"Me? Nah. I don't feel like clubbing." Tyson shook his head. "There's a tour of the Salem museum…"

"No thanks."

"Ri-ight. I'll just not bother looking at these other tours, then." Tyson dropped a bunch back in the bag. "I thought the Chief said something about mock witch trials. That could be cool to go watch."

"Maybe, but they're not until tomorrow evening." Kai responded, pointing at another flyer.

"So? We can stay at the BBA hostel, can't we? They must have one here, right?"

"I can phone the Chief and ask him, I guess." Kai gave the bluenette a pained look. "Do you _really_ want to see those trials _that_ badly?"

Tyson turned in his seat and met Kai's gaze. "Aren't _you_ even the least little bit interested? Can't we just relax, have some fun, and maybe learn something new while we're at it? Come on, Kai…"

"Kinomiya…no, I'm not really that interested. I'd much rather go back to Boston and train."

Looking absolutely crestfallen, the younger teen gave it one last try. He didn't want to go back yet, not when he was beginning to get to see sides of his captain he hadn't seen before – or at least hadn't seen for a while. "For once can you please not be a total wet blanket, Kai? For me?" Tyson said it half-jokingly but in his heart, he meant it.

Kai stared into midnight blue pools and found himself drowning. He discovered he couldn't look away – didn't want to, really – and caved in. "Fine. I don't know why I'm agreeing to this but…we'll stay. However!" He cut off Tyson's impending exclamation of happiness and gratitude. "I'd much rather stay at a hotel than a hostel. If we stayed at a BBA hostel, word would get out too quickly and we'd end up signing autographs and being challenged right, left, and centre."

"Good point. But can we afford a hotel?" Tyson looked at the phoenix worriedly.

"Kinomiya…who am I?"

The dragon had the grace to look sheepish. "Oh. Right." He gave Kai a tentative smile of gratitude as he started up the car and pulled out into traffic. "I'll owe you for this, Kai. Thanks."

"Yeah, yeah." Kai flushed pink and didn't look at his friend. "Don't worry, I'll find a way for you pay me back."

Tyson leaned back in his seat with a grin. "I know."

* * *

**Authoress' Endnotes:** **(1)** Yes, I know the spelling's weird. It's on purpose – to sound like one does when one's pinching one's nose. **(2)** Bastet, for all those who don't know, is the Egyptian Cat goddess. For more info on Egyptian Mythology, go here (take out spaces and c/p to browser): http:www. pantheon. org /areas/ mythology/ africa/ egyptian/ articles. html **3)** Okay, so I'm making it easy on you. If you wanna know more about Halloween or Samhain, go here (again, removes the spaces and c/p to browser): http:www. neopagan. net/ Halloween-Origins. html That's all I have to say at the moment. **Please R/R!!!!**


	4. Part 04

**Authoress' Notes: **Moving right along… here comes the suspense I all promised you! Enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** Don't own! Don't sue! Also don't own _Resident Evil_ or _Resident Evil: Apocalypse, or Shrek 2 in_ any way, shape or form.

**Warnings:** Yaoi, language, fluffiness, etc. readers: _ if you're looking for the NC-17 version of this fic, go to either my homepage (see my bio), Only TyKa Hotness, or (FireKali)._

**Pairing: **TyKa! Hints of ReMa and Kenny/Hilary, too.

**Hallowed **

**Part 04**

Kai strode over to his teammate, who was sitting on a sofa in the lobby of the hotel they were attempting to get a room at.

"Got it." He said, dangling a key. "It's their last room, and…"

"Finally! This is, like, the sixth hotel we've tried." Tyson yawned and stood, grabbing his bag. "I just want to eat something, maybe watch a little television, and go to sleep."

Kai sighed. "Would you let me finish? I was trying to tell you they only had one room and that it only has one bed. It's a double bed, but if you don't mind sharing…" He informed Tyson as he led him over to the elevators.

Behind him, Tyson's eyes went wide and he blushed hotly. "Uh…no. That's okay. As long as you don't mind…" He replied, fighting off an urge to squeak and hide somewhere.

Kai felt his face heat up at the suspiciously husky tone in Tyson's voice. They stepped into the elevator and Kai pushed the button for their floor. "As long as you try _really_ hard not to snore, Kinomiya."

"Hey! I don't snore!"

"Oh yes, Tyson, you do."

Grumbling indignantly under his breath, Tyson followed Kai off the elevator to their room.

After dropping their stuff off, phoning the others to let them know they were staying after all, and a short argument about where and what they were going to eat, they left the hotel again and walked to the Pizza Hut two blocks away.

When they got back to the room, Kai went into the bathroom to shower and Tyson changed into his pyjamas while he was in there. Waiting for his turn to use the bathroom, the bluenette flicked on the TV and got totally engrossed in an all-night horror movie marathon. He stretched out on his stomach, clutching a pillow tightly with his eyes glued to the television screen.

Which was how Kai found him when he came out of the muggy, steamy bathroom in his boxers and a black tank top with damp hair and sans face paint. He had to take a deep breath and shove back the need to run his fingers through the now loose strands of Tyson's silken, blue-black hair. _The brat, Kai_ silently admitted to himself, _really does look kind of cute like that…Gods! Since when did I call **anything** 'cute'?! What have you done to me, Tyson?_ He rubbed at his chest, as if he could massage away the ache there and didn't notice that he was staring at Tyson without restraint, a soft, fond look crossing his face.

When he realized he'd stood there staring for at least five minutes, Kai hook himself out of his daze and strode over to the bed.

Tyson looked up and quickly looked away again when he saw Kai in his boxers and tank-top. _Oh my Gods…he is **way** too hot to be natural. How am I supposed to sleep tonight with that fabulous, fantastic…sexy, muscular… _He slammed a mental lid over the thoughts that came creeping up on him.

"Bathroom's free." Kai said, getting into his side of the bed and propping himself up with his pillow.

"I'll go on the next commercial break." Tyson replied, not taking his eyes off the screen.

Kai watched for about two minutes before he asked, "What exactly are you watching?"

"_Resident Evil_." Tyson said, rolling off the bed as the commercials started up. "It's based on a video game series. It's really good. Freaky and gory, but good." He went into the bathroom and quickly used the facilities and brushed his teeth before returning in time for the movie to start up again.

"Should you really be watching it before you go to sleep, then? And after you ate that pizza?" Kai gave him a look. "You'll have nightmares, you know."

"Nah. I'll be fine!" Tyson waved that off, feeling quite confident in himself on that subject. "You're nearly as bad as Gramps, Kai."

"Oh really? Well, I'm only pointing it out because if you wake me up in the middle of the night all freaked out I'll probably smother you with your pillow." Kai warned. "I _really_ hate being woken up after I've gone to sleep."

"Duly noted. Now, shhh!"

The phoenix rolled his eyes and sat back, consigning himself to his fate of watching the rest of the movie with Tyson since he wouldn't be able to go to sleep with the TV on anyway.

The movie ended and Tyson shut off the TV, yawning and stretching his arms out above his head. It made his sleep-shirt ride up, exposing his stomach and Kai unconsciously licked his lips, though in his mind all he could think was _I didn't know Tyson was that muscular._ He waited until Tyson had crawled under the covers with him and settled on his side facing away from Kai before turning off the light and trying to sleep.

* * *

Kai sat up abruptly with a harsh gasp, his crimson eyes wide and unseeing in the moonlit darkness. Tyson, awakened by the sudden movement and unconsciously sensing something wrong with Kai, rolled over and blinked sleepily at him.

"What's wrong, Kai? Kai?" He frowned and reached out to place a hand on Kai's shoulder, shaking him lightly. "Hey…snap out of it, dude."

"Huh?" Kai sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly, blinking in confusion for a moment. "Shit." Realizing he'd been dreaming, as he usually did, of his days at the Abbey, he rubbed at his face in embarrassment and self-annoyance.

"Nightmare?" Tyson slid out of bed and disappeared into the bathroom for a moment. When he came back he had a glass of water, which he pressed into Kai's hands. "Here. Sip slowly and take your time getting yourself back together. And _don't_ tell me you're fine, 'cause I can see quite clearly you're not."

Kai's face darkened in embarrassment and shame as he stared into the glass he clutched so tightly his knuckles went white. "I'm sorry."

"What for? Geez, Kai…everyone has bad dreams sometimes. Nothing to be ashamed of. It's just the mind's way of coping with things sometimes. And Heaven knows you've had a lot of crap to deal with in your life." Tyson rubbed his shoulder soothingly, a little surprised that Kai hadn't pushed him away yet, but not daring to mention it. _He must be more shook up than I thought._

"Maybe…" Kai said in such a low voice that Tyson had to strain to hear it. "I don't know what triggered it this time. I guess it doesn't matter."

"You can tell me about it." The dragon offered kindly. "It might make you feel better…"

"It was the Abbey." Kai replied slowly, staring straight ahead at the wall. "Do I have to say more?"

"No. You don't. Here…" Tyson plucked the glass from Kai's hands and set it on the table next to his side of the bed. "Lie back down and relax, Kai. Try to go back to sleep."

Kai did so obediently, grateful that for once the bluenette knew enough not to push him for explanations. Besides, he was already embarrassed enough as it was and the whole thing was terribly ironic, since _he'd_ been warning _Tyson_ against having nightmares. He closed his eyes as Tyson settled down on his side. Then he opened them again when he felt Tyson's fingers run through his hair.

"Bother you?" The bluenette asked in a quiet, husky voice.

"I guess not. Just…not used to…affectionate gestures." Kai sighed and closed his eyes again. He just didn't have the energy to protest Tyson's actions just to protect his pride right then and he actually _was_ kind of enjoying the attention.

He didn't see the dragon's soft smile. "I know. Go ahead and sleep, Kai. You're safe with me."

"Hmm…" Kai made a noise in response but didn't answer further. He'd already fallen asleep.

Tyson inched closer, careful not to wake the troubled teen up again, and lightly pressed his lips to Kai's. When he didn't stir, Tyson did it again and let his forehead rest against Kai's, closing his eyes.

"Sweet dreams, my phoenix." He whispered drowsily.

* * *

Tyson woke up the next morning and found Kai had already gotten up and gone off somewhere. Shrugging, he stumbled into the bathroom to have a shower.

He was dressed and sitting on the bed, pulling on his socks, when his wandering captain returned.

"Good. You're up." Kai shut the door and kicked off his shoes, walking over to the bed and sitting down. "You eat yet?"

"No. Did you?"

"No. I just went to get a newspaper." Kai waved it in front of himself. "Why don't you call up some room service, Tyson? We can't do anything on empty stomachs."

"Sure!" Tyson rolled to his knees and crawled up the bed to get to the phone on the bedside table.

Kai opened his newspaper and began reading while Tyson proceeded to order brunch since it was nearly noon anyway.

Tyson hung up the phone. It would be fifteen to twenty minutes before their meal got to their room. Curious about Kai's reading material, he crawled back to the older blader and looked over Kai's shoulder.

"What's so interesting in the newspaper?" He inquired.

Kai swallowed and suppressed a shiver. He could feel the younger blader's body heat against his back, though they weren't physically touching, and Tyson smelled really, really good fresh out of the shower. Combined with the all to recent memory of how he'd woken up that morning – tangled in the sheets with the oblivious bluenette, spooned by Tyson's body at his back – Kai had to fight off a bright blush and his hormones.

"The news. Don't you read the newspaper, Kinomiya?" He managed in a neutral sort of tone.

"Not usually. I just watch it on TV if I want. I do read the comics though!" Tyson replied cheerfully, oblivious to the effect he was having on Kai. "Are there comics in this paper?"

Kai looked at the index and tugged out the section with the comic strips, handing it to the bluenette over his shoulder. "Here. Now leave me alone, would you? I'm trying to read."

"Thanks!" Tyson took them and sat back against the headboard to read his favourite part of any newspaper.

Kai breathed a silent sigh of relief and went back to his own reading.

The food soon arrived and the two bladers dug in hungrily. When they'd finished, Tyson at back in his chair and smiled in satisfaction.

"That hit the spot! So? What shall we do today until the trials tonight?"

Kai shrugged. "I don't know. We could drive around and look at the sights, I suppose. Maybe check out that graveyard that woman in the shop told us about."

"Sounds like a plan to me!"

* * *

"Ooh! Look Kai! The guidebook says this one is the grave of a woman who used her evil magic to…"

Kai sighed and hid a yawn behind his hand as he waltzed along behind Tyson. They were walking through one of the oldest cemeteries in Salem, looking at the graves and crypts that were described in a guidebook the bluenette had gotten at an information centre they had come across when driving around. Kai tuned out the litany as Tyson read aloud from the book in his hands. He was still trying to sort everything out in his head – the night before, the conversation in the car…it had him all confused. He couldn't fathom why he was still here, following the dragon around despite his boredom.

_And why do I keep agreeing to do what he wants? Why haven't I told him 'no' and gone back to Boston yet?_ He asked himself, moving along with Tyson as he went on to the next crypt and giving a short "Hn." when he got a look that wondered if Kai was paying attention or not. Kai could feel a swath of heat pass over his cheeks as he remembered how Tyson had run his fingers through Kai's hair the night before. _I should have been shoving him away and making him sleep on the sofa but instead I just lay there and let him. It didn't feel wrong…I…I liked it. I wanted more._

He leaned a hip against a gravestone and watched Tyson walk over to inspect a plaque on the door of a huge limestone crypt, having to crouch down to get a better look at it before consulting his guide.

_Oh, who am I kidding? I want him, at the very least._ Kai shifted his stance uncomfortably, the ache in the lower half of his body spreading slowly. _Damn you, Kinomiya, for being so beautiful! Outside…and inside…_

Tyson stood and dusted off his pant legs. He knew Kai was supremely bored out of his tree, but he hadn't complained yet – not once. Wisely, the dragon chose not to question it and just go on like normal.

"Well, that was the last one from this cemetery. Should we go find another one or do you want to do something else?" He asked, flipping through his book. When he got no answer, he looked up. "Kai?"

"Huh? Oh. I don't care. How about a movie or something? I'm tired of walking around all over the place." Kai suggested, looking away in an attempt to hide his blush and still seem casual when doing so.

Tyson blinked in surprise, having noted the redness of Kai's face as well as the way he'd seemed to be staring at Tyson behind his sunglasses, and wondered at it. "Okay!" He readily agreed. "I'm sure we can find something good playing. Let's go!"

* * *

Since the movie theatre turned out to be only a couple of blocks away from their hotel, they drove back to the hotel and left the car there, deciding to walk the short distance.

When they reached the large, modern building, they stood outside looking over the listings to see what was being offered, what times, and which show they could agree on to see.

"_Shrek__ 2_ is supposed to be really funny. The first one was." Tyson said.

"I'm more in the mood for action, really." Kai shook his head.

"Uh…how about _Resident Evil: Apocalypse_, then?" Tyson pointed at the listing. "We're in luck! There's even a matinee today for it."

"Is that, like, the sequel to that movie we watched on TV last night? With the zombies?"

"Yep!"

"That'll do, then."

"Did you even like the one last night?"

Kai shrugged. "As far as horror movies go, it was alright, I guess."

Tyson gave him a look. "Remind me when we get home to show you the games on my PS2. Then maybe you'll have a better appreciation for the movies."

"Whatever."

They turned as one to go inside but stopped in their tracks. The two bladers found themselves blocked by a wall of black-robed, hooded people, the hoods shadowing faces so that neither Kai nor Tyson could see who they were.

"Um…who're these guys?" The younger teen wondered aloud, eyeing the group warily. "And what's with the outfits?"

"I don't know. Let's just go back to the hotel, Tyson." Kai placed a cautioning hand on Tyson's shoulder and they turned to go back the way they'd come, but found their way blocked by more creepy figures. "Or not."

"I think we could be in trouble, Kai. What do we do?" Without realizing it, they ended up standing back to back, each of them facing a group of the strange people.

"If we get past them, we can make a run for it."

"Okay…but…"

One of the figures stepped forward, lifting a finger to point at them. In an eerie, dark voice that sent chills down both their spines, the figure spoke.

"There they are! The evil-doers! They have used their wicked powers on the children of Salem! Take them!"

"Wait a minute!" Tyson exclaimed hastily, eyes going wide in shock at the accusation and beginning to get a little scared.

"I don't know what's going on, but we didn't do anything. Don't force us into a corner, people. I guarantee you won't like it." Kai gave the group that warning but was summarily ignored. Frowning, he glanced over his shoulder at Tyson. "We have a problem, Kinomiya."

"Duh. What do we…ack!" He was cut off as the group he was facing leapt forward and tackled him to the ground.

"Tyson!" Kai whirled, intending to help the dragon but it was a mistake because he had to turn his back on the rest of the group. They got to him before he could get to his fallen teammate, who he noticed was already out for the count.

Then someone slapped a damp cloth over his mouth and nose that smelled heavily of almonds, a sickeningly thick scent that he was forced to breathe in. He tried to struggle, but found his limbs were just so heavy and immobile…

And then the world went blank.

* * *

Tyson dreamed.

In his dream, he could see a group of darkly-clothed figures without faces, chasing him through the streets of an unfamiliar town that looked like a scene from a movie set in colonial times. At his side, also running away from the figures, was Kai. They kept trying to run away, but everywhere they went they would run into more spooky people.

And then the people became zombies, mindless creatures that just wouldn't stop coming after them no matter how hard Tyson and Kai fought them off. At one point, Tyson watched in horror as Kai was dragged down to the ground and the zombies began to feed…

"Ah! NO! **KAI!**" Tyson sat up abruptly with a shout, breathing hard and heart pounding, his pulse beating erratically in his ears like a drum.

"Tyson! Hey…" Kai's voice penetrated the weird fog in his mind and he looked in the direction the sound had come from, trying to focus on it. "Kinomiya, I'm right here. Are you okay?"

"Huh? Kai…what happened?" Tyson blinked and groaned, suddenly feeling like he was going to be rather sick. His head hurt like hell, too. "Oh Gods…I feel awful."

"I know. I did, too, when I came to." Kai gave him a sympathetic look and came over to sit next to him on the floor of…wherever it was they were. "Put your head between your knees and take slow, shallow breaths through your mouth. It'll pass." He instructed, laying a hand on Tyson's shoulder and rubbing in an attempt to soothe.

"Why do I feel like losing my lunch? And what happened, Kai? Where are we?" Tyson asked, doing as he was told and closing his eyes as he fought off the nausea.

"It's the chloroform making you ill. They used it on those cloths and made us breathe it in to knock us unconscious." Kai responded matter-of-factly. "But I'm sorry to say I still haven't figured out what's going on or exactly where we are. All I can see is that we're in a storage room that appears to be in a basement somewhere. The door's made of thick steel and locked, there's only one window – barred – that we wouldn't fit through anyway."

"Great." Tyson raised his head slowly, beginning to feel better but still a little shaky. Then he thought of something else and began patting his pockets frantically. "Wait! Dragoon!?"

"Here." Kai pulled Tyson's blade and launcher from his jacket pocket and laid them in his hands. "They left our stuff on that crate over there. Either they don't think out blades are a threat and can be used as weapons…or they're just stupid. Or both." Kai's smile was a little scary, but Tyson found that for once, he didn't really mind.

"Well, that's a relief." The bluenette heaved a sigh and clutched his blade firmly in his fist. "I'd be totally lost without Dragoon, I think."

Kai reclined against the wall, folding his hands behind his head. "I know I would be without Dranzer." He agreed. "But we need to think of a way out of here. I don't know about you, but I'd rather not be around to find out what they plan on doing with us."

"Ditto. But what can we do? The window's not an option, you said, and the door is too much for us to break down with our blades, right?"

"Yeah. Well…" Kai got a thoughtful look on his face. "I think it would be too much on my own but maybe, if we used Dranzer and Dragoon together…"

"It could work." Tyson looked at him eagerly. "Let's try it, at least!"

They got up and set their blades to their launchers with dual 'clicks' of sound. They could barely see the outline of the door in the darkness of the crowded basement room, but it was enough to know where to aim.

"Let it rip!" They chorused, launching directly at the door.

"Dranzer! Blazing Gig Tempest!"

"Dragoon! Galaxy Storm!"

There was a thunderous clan as their blades collided with the steel door and their bit-beasts came out and went to work. Ducking and covering their heads, they waited as the door suddenly fell with a crash and dust and smoke filled the air.

Coughing, Tyson stood up and looked at the open doorway. "Alright! Look, Kai! It worked!" In his excitement, he glomped onto his captain and hugged him hard, planting a sort of sloppy kiss on Kai's mouth before he realized what he was doing.

Kai's eyes went very, very wide and he went very, very red, blushing from the roots of his hair right down his neck and under his scarf and clothes. "T…Tyson…" He stammered, then looked away hastily (but not before Tyson saw what appeared to be a flash of pleasure and longing in his crimson eyes) and went to pick up their blades, tossing Dragoon to the bluenette. Clearing his throat, he said gruffly, "Let's get out of here before someone comes to investigate."

"Yeah. Right!" Tyson was blushing madly, too, silently kicking himself for being a complete moron for _kissing_ Kai. He hurried after the phoenix, and soon discovered the door led to the outside world up a set of concrete stairs.

They found themselves out in an alley between two buildings. Kai looked one way, then the other and frowned.

"Which way?"

"I don't know. We don't even know where we are or how long we've been in there." Tyson pointed at the blown-out door over his shoulder. "Let's follow this alley farther in. We'd be more likely to be spotted if we go out front, right."

"Probably." Kai set his blade to his launcher once more, in preparation. "Just in case." He said at Tyson's raised eyebrow. Tyson didn't really have anything to say to that so he simply followed Kai at a slow jog.

They reached the end of the alley and peered around the corners. The street was virtually empty, and Kai vaguely recognized the street itself. There were only a few cars parked near a restaurant and on occasion one would drive past.

"Well, the good news is we're still in Salem." Kai said in a low voice. "The bad news is we're clear across town from the hotel, and I left my cell phone there. We'll have to walk and be sneaky about it."

Tyson nodded and together they left the alley, walking along the sidewalk and trying to look inconspicuous.

After a few moments of silence, Kai couldn't stand it anymore and shoved his hands in his pockets with a scowl that was directed at himself when he blushed again. Continuing to walk, he asked, "What was that? Back there…"

His teammate started and turned a little pink, not looking at him. "I…it just sort of happened. I don't know what I was thinking. I'm sorry, Kai! I promise it won't happen again! I…do you hate me?" Tyson asked in a small voice, slowing to a stop and kicking at a pebble while staring at the ground.

Kai stared at him in surprise. _Hate him? When he gave me something I've wanted from him for a long time now? Of course **he** doesn't know that, but still…_ "No. I don't hate you." Kai assured him, leaning against a lamppost and folding his arms over his chest. Tyson's head snapped up and he grinned a huge ridiculously relieved smile. "Like I said, Kinomiya, I'm just not used to displays of affection. Especially if they're directed at me."

"Well, I'm still sorry…"

"Forget it."

"Hey! There they are!" A shout rang out and the two bladers straightened, taking one quick look in the direction they'd come before turning and running. "Hey! Wait!"

"Damn it! We have to lose them somehow!" Tyson panted, running alongside his captain.

"Maybe in there." Kai pointed ahead of them and to their left. "I recognize that cemetery."

"We were here earlier today." Tyson nodded. "It's the one with all the crypts – perfect place to hide and ditch the freaks."

"Hurry!"

They crossed the street and climbed over the huge iron gates that were locked and chained shut. Once inside, with the angry shouts and exclamations of their pursuers following them, they ran deep inside the cemetery and weaved in and out of the paths among the stone crypts.

Kai stopped and crouched down beside a headstone, motioning for Tyson to do the same. "Listen." He whispered.

The two teens could hear the echoing clang of the iron gates as they were opened by their pursuers. "We have to hide, Kai." Tyson whispered urgently, tugging on the phoenix's jacket sleeve.

"I know. Come on. They're coming this way." Kai grabbed Tyson's hand and pulled him along, until he found a small clump of bushes. Ducking down behind them, they waited in silence, being very careful not to move and alert their pursuers to their location as a group of them walked by with flash lights, searching the area for the escaped teens.

When they'd passed, Tyson stood and dusted himself off. "We'd better go. Maybe we can sneak out the front while they're searching for us in here."

"Let's take a different exit." Kai shook his head. "No doubt they've left guards at the front gates."

"Oh. Should have thought of that myself." Tyson gave him a sheepish look. "Okay."

They jogged stealthily along through the underbrush and bushes. As they neared the far end of the cemetery, Tyson tripped on a partially hidden log and knocked Kai over as he fell. Unfortunately, they were also at the edge of an embankment of a steep hill that led down to a stream.

"Oof! AH!" Tyson gave a muffled cry as they rolled down the hill. When they came to a stop, just barely missing the stream of cold, muddy water, Tyson was mostly on top of Kai, chest to chest, their noses brushing and their harsh breaths mingling in the cool autumn night air. The bluenette stared down into burning russet eyes and felt himself get lost in them.

Kai stared back, ignoring the object poking him in the back that was really uncomfortable, in favour of enjoying the feeling of the dragon's lithe, muscular body pressed against his own with nothing but the layers of their clothes between them. With no way to hide his body's reaction, Kai didn't bother trying to hide his enjoyment of their current position from Tyson, letting him see the quiet need in his eyes.

Tyson saw it, and shifted uncomfortably when he felt his pants suddenly become a little too tight. Kai let out a tiny noise that sounded suspiciously like a whimper and Tyson sucked in a breath, going very, very still.

"Kai…"

"Kinomiya…_Tyson_…" Kai said his name huskily, his eyes darkening quickly under Tyson's gaze." Either get the hell off of me or kiss me. Don't tease…"

With a low sound, Tyson dipped his head and pressed his mouth to Kai's ,eyes sliding closed immediately as heat spread along his skin from just that simple contact. He felt Kai's arms slide around the middle of his back and around his waist and the bluenette groaned, parting his lips and tentatively letting his tongue touch Kai's lips in a silent demand for entrance. The phoenix complied and Tyson made a noise of approval, his tongue seeking out its counterpart and doing his best to make Kai's come out to play.

Their first kiss turned passionate and primal, a short battle for supremacy ending with Tyson the winner – not that Kai minded much. It felt good – no _right_ – to be the submissive one, to give himself to Tyson like this and not have to worry about always being in control and what anyone else wanted of him because here and now, in the dragon's arms, he realized he was as free as he'd ever been. And in the pleasure he was receiving Kai could also feel the trust and affection Tyson had for his captain. It was a little staggering for Kai to realize that he'd been wanting this for _so_ long and that he hadn't had the courage to do anything about it, let alone admit it to even himself.

Tyson broke the kiss eventually, when the need for air became too hard to ignore. Panting, he stared into dazed, pleasure-filled crimson orbs and couldn't help smirking with proud satisfaction because _he_ had put that look in Kai's eyes.

"I have wanted to do that for a ridiculously long time." He murmured, brushing his lips across Kai's eyelids as they fluttered closed, then across his nose, his cheeks, and again pressing a kiss to Kai's mouth. "Kai…"

"I…" Kai had to stop and clear his throat to get rid of the raspy quality to it, moving his hands to run them up and down Tyson's arms on either side of him. "I had no idea. When did you…"

He was cut off by Tyson putting a finger over his lips and shushing him. "Quiet. I think someone's coming." He whispered, rolling off Kai and getting up. Kai got to his feet swiftly and together they managed to climb back up the embankment.

Just as they reached the top, the beam of a flashlight landed on them and a shout of "Hey you! Stop!" had them on the run once more.

* * *

**Authoress' Endnotes:** Phew! Part 04 is complete! Like? Hate? Did I earn that 'suspense' category? There's more coming soon… **Please R/R!!!!**


	5. Part 05

**Authoress' Notes: **Ah…I know it's a Halloween fic, but you know me. _sweatdrops_ My muses are enthusiastic when it comes to plots… onto Part 05! Oh! And belated Happy Thanksgiving to all of you American neighbours…

**Disclaimer:**Don't own! Don't sue!

**Warnings:**Yaoi, language, fluffiness, etc. _**FanFiction. Net readers:** if you're looking for the NC-17 version of this fic, go to either my homepage (see my bio), Only TyKa Hotness, Mediaminer. org (FireKali), or Aff. Net (Yami FireKali) – though I haven't gotten that far yet…sorry about that._

**Pairing:**TyKa! Hints of ReMa and Kenny/Hilary, too.

**Hallowed **

**Part 05**

"This…" Pant. "…is getting…" Pant. "…ridiculous."

Kai made a breathless noise of agreement, leaning over with his hands braced on his knees as he sucked in much needed air. They'd managed to get out of the cemetery and all the way back to the old district and its main street – running the entire way.

"Ugh." Tyson groaned, leaning against the wall of one building. They'd put some distance between themselves and their captors, and had (they hoped) lost them by weaving in and out of alleys and taking side streets. When Kai had finally called a halt in hopes of having lost them permanently (or at least long enough for he and Tyson to rest and regain their breaths), he'd pulled Tyson into the first convenient alley and stopped.

"You okay, Kinomiya?" Kai asked, straightening up.

"My legs are killing me and I'm starving. So no." Tyson responded, rubbing his stomach. "It's not far to the hotel, at least. Do you think we can make it?"

"I don't know. But we're going to try." Kai went to the end of the alley, sticking to the shadows and avoiding the light from street lights nearby, and peered out cautiously, checking the street up and down. "But not yet. There's a group coming this way and they're still dressed in those weird clothes."

"We'd better hide or something, Kai, until they've gone past." Tyson beckoned his captain back into the alley and looked around. "Behind these old crates will have to do."

Kai waited until the group coming up the street were only a block away before he slipped back into the alley and joined Tyson behind a stack of wooden crates piled against one wall. They waited in silence, listening to the approaching footfalls of their pursuers, and the low murmur of voices that gradually got louder the closer they got.

"…have to find them." One of them was saying. "Mayor Rockman is already really pissed off at us…"

"It wasn't our fault!" Another protested.

"If they try to get back to their hotel, then we'll catch them and everything will be fine. There's still time yet." A female voice pointed out.

"For now, we just keep looking…" the voices began to fade and when they couldn't hear anymore footsteps, Kai and Tyson cautiously came out from their hiding spot.

"Great. So they know where we're staying and they're waiting for us. What do we do now?" Tyson felt like banging his head against the wall. "And did you hear what they said about the Mayor? What was _that_ all about?"

"Yeah. It sounded like he's the one running their little group." Kai ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "I still say we go for the hotel. Even if they did leave a couple of people there to wait for us, we should be able to sneak by somehow and get our stuff, then sneak out again."

"Okay. If you say so. I don't know much about being all stealthy so I'll just follow your lead, oh my captain." Tyson grinned cheekily and gave Kai a mock salute.

The phoenix rolled his eyes and gestured for Tyson to follow him. He checked the streets again and found it empty – making him wonder how late at night it truly was for a moment before he simply dismissed the curiosity as unimportant right then – and turned back around to give the dragon an all-clear.

"It's safe. I think we should make short dashes from alley to alley, just to be on the safe side." He said quietly as he turned. "Okay, Kino…"

He was interrupted by Tyson suddenly spinning him around to face him and somewhat roughly pushing Kai back up against the wall, leaning up and in to crush his mouth to the older teen's in a needy, passionately rough kiss. Kai's mind went blissfully blank for a moment and he gave a small sound of lust before opening to the demand of Tyson's tongue and found his mouth being thoroughly, deeply explored. Tyson's fingers dove into Kai's hair and gripped the soft strands, his body moulding to the older blader's perfectly as he drew Kai as close as he could. A shiver ran through each of them and Kai circled his arms around Tyson, not wanting to ever let go of the bishonen who was giving him such pleasure from such a simple thing as a kiss.

The sudden fire that had blazed through his system a few moments ago began to slowly reduce down to a steady, manageable burn and Tyson lazily broke the kiss, taking a few parting nips and softer kisses before he buried his face in Kai's neck and rubbed his nose against ivory skin and the silken cloth of Kai's scarf. He gave a purr of pleased contentment when he felt Kai's hands languorously slide up and down his back and shoulders.

"As much fun as that was…" Kai began then cleared his throat to get rid of the hoarseness in his voice, making the dragon chuckle knowingly into his neck. "Kinomiya, we have to go."

"I know, Kai. But I just had to kiss you again. I couldn't stand it." Tyson brushed his mouth across the pulse in his captain's neck and dragged his kips up to Kai's ear to whisper darkly, "I finally had a taste of you and I find I want more…I crave you."

Kai's eyes nearly crossed and he squeezed them shut, a wave of lust flooding his senses and mind at Tyson's words and the definite emotion behind them. Taking a deep, shaky breath, he let it out on a sigh and returned the younger blader's admission with one of his own.

"You might crave me but I am _addicted_ to you. You intoxicate me, Tyson." He growled in an equally dark voice.

"Hmm…" Tyson smiled, feeling just a bit giddy, and nuzzled Kai again affectionately. He raised his mouth to give the phoenix a couple more soft kisses before reluctantly pulling away – though he did slip his hand into Kai's and squeeze, interlocking their fingers tightly. "Come on. I want out of this weird town so we can concentrate on satisfying our cravings."

"Gods…" Kai wanted to whimper at the tightening in his pants. "We're going to have to talk about this, you know."

"I know. And I promise we will, Kai. Let's just get out of here together in one piece, first."

Kai nodded in agreement and just as they turned to leave the alley, a loud crash came from behind them.

Startled, they looked over at the trash can that had been knocked over and saw a familiar set of piercing green eyes of a distinctly feline shape peering at them from the darkness.

"Phew. Just a cat." Tyson breathed a sigh of relief, laughing nervously. "Scared the pants off me though."

"Yeah."

"Merow?" The cat meowed at them and padded over to Tyson, weaving in and out of his legs and rubbing up against them, purring loudly. The bluenette looked down at the cat in amusement and crouched down to pet it.

"You look really familiar, Kitty." Tyson said. Kai studied the cat for a moment and leaned casually back against a wall, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Isn't that the cat from the weird stone you were in yesterday?" The captain asked. Tyson blinked up at him in surprise then looked back down at the cat.

"Nicodemus?" He inquired tentatively. The cat stared up at him in return and blinked slowly at him, meowing loudly in answer. "What are you doing way out here? Maggie must be worried about you."

"Uh…Tyson?" Kai frowned, sure he knew what his younger team mate was thinking. "In case you've forgotten, we're being chased by freaky people in robes. We don't have time to return a stray cat to its home."

"I haven't forgotten." Tyson rolled his eyes and picked Nico up. "But I don't want to just leave him here, either."

"You are _such_ a sap, Kinomiya. That cat has probably roamed around these streets and alleys just fine on his own many times before. So just put him down and let him go his way while we go ours…preferably before we're caught?"

Before Tyson could do that (grumbling under his breath about it), Nicodemus jumped down himself. The black cat padded off into the alley, then stopped and yowled in a demanding sort of way while staring hard at the two teens. They just looked back blankly then at each other – as we clueless humans usually do. Nicodemus yowled again, going back over to them, rubbing against Tyson's legs a couple of times to make sure he had the bluenette's attention, then running back up into the alley and stopping to wait – or at least that's what Tyson thought he seemed to be doing.

"Uh…I think he wants us to follow him, Kai." The dragon scratched his head and glanced at the phoenix with a shrug.

"Are you feeling okay, Kinomiya?" Kai peered at him closely. "You want to follow a _cat_?"

"Merow!" Came another, impatient yowl. Tyson made a sweeping gesture in Nico's direction as if to say, "See? He's saying I'm right!"

"Come on, Kai." Tyson grabbed his hand and dragged his captain along, toward the cat. "My curiosity is peeked now."

"Tyson!" Kai protested vehemently, but not enough to dissuade the bluenette it seemed, because he just kept following their feline guide. With a sigh of extreme exasperation, the older teen chased after the younger, who chased after the feline. "I swear…if we get caught because of this…"

"Yeah. I _know_."

They didn't have to go far, though, before Nicodemus came to a stop in an alley behind a very old building. A light next to the back door of the building flicked on and the door opened, revealing none other than Maggie.

"Oh, good! I'm glad Nico found you. Come in, please." She ushered them indoors, her feline familiar darting in ahead of them and disappearing inside.

Once inside, Maggie closed and locked the door behind them before leading them up a set of stairs. There, they found themselves in the living room of a small apartment.

"Welcome to my home." Maggie smiled, gesturing for them to have a seat. "I live above my shop."

"Um, forgive me for asking, Maggie, but what's going on? And how did you know we were coming?" Tyson asked, thoroughly confused. Kai just crossed his arms and watched her warily.

"Well, I was deep into my mediations and my rituals for the day – for _Samhein_ – and I got a sudden sense of danger. So I did a quick scrying and managed to see that what I sensed was near the both of you." The petite woman explained, moving to her kitchen area and preparing a kettle of water to boil for tea as she spoke. "I wasn't sure why you seemed to be in danger but I believed you could handle it yourselves with the help of Sacred Dragoon and Sacred Dranzer."

Kai grunted and said, "Of course we could. And did." He didn't believe the hocus pocus tale for a second. It only made him sure _she_ was involved in their troubles somehow.

"But then I saw an awful lot of people running around in strange, hooded robes and I really began to worry – it wouldn't have seemed so out of place a few hours ago, but at this late hour?" She pointed at an old grandfather clock standing in a corner. It read 11:21, which gave both bladers a bit of a shock. "I thought it was a little late for anyone to be running around in their costumes as they were – back and forth, up and down the street out front. So I sent Nicodemus to find you and lead you back here to safety. I want to help you figure out what's going on."

"Well, we have no clue, really. We'd decided to go see a movie, to waste some time before the trials that we'd planned on going to watch. The mock ones?" Tyson told Maggie about their abduction, their escape, and the chase. "So that's how we ended up here, but we were going to sneak back into our hotel, get our stuff, and then sneak back out again. Then we'd just drive away."

Kai watched Maggie closely as Tyson told their story. He was looking for any hint that she was involved in this. As Tyson spoke about what they'd overheard the one group saying about the Mayor, he saw a flicker of knowledge in Maggie's eyes and his own crimson orbs narrowed in suspicion.

"That sounds like quite an ordeal you've been through tonight, Tyson. But I think things are beginning to make sense to me now. If I may ask, what hotel were you staying at?" She inquired.

Tyson opened his mouth to tell her but Kai cut him off.

"You know what's going on, don't you? I'll bet you're in on it!"

Maggie sighed and went through the motions of pouring tea for her guests and bringing them each a steaming cupful. "I'm not denying it, Kai. I _think_ I know what's happened, and if I'm right then there's been a terrible mistake made somewhere. Was your hotel the Best Western on the southeast end of town?"

Kai continued to stare at her but replied cautiously, "Yes."

Tyson looked back and forth between them, not sure what was going on, but trusting that Kai did and that he was on top of the situation.

"I see. In that case, there _has_ been a huge mistake made. If you will allow me to, I would like to phone the Mayor myself and confirm my suspicions. You may listen in, if you like, and I promise I won't give away that you're here. Would that put your mind at ease, Kai?"

He gave her a short nod and Maggie reached for her cordless phone, sitting on the coffee table. She dialled a number, and waited until someone picked up at the other end before saying, "Hello, Mayor Rockman. Yes, it's Maggie MacGowan, sir. I realize you're very busy, but I'm calling about your black robes…oh yes? Yes…I did wonder why they are roaming about the streets at this hour. I see." She flicked her eyes in a quick glance at Kai and Tyson, meeting Kai's burning gaze and holding it. "No, sir. I haven't seen them, but if I do, I'll be sure to explain the situation to them and send them to the hotel. Yes, sir. Thank you for your time. Happy Halloween to you also. Goodbye." Maggie hung up and put the phone down.

"Well?" Tyson sat forward eagerly, wanting to know what Maggie had learned.

"It seems there was a big mix-up at the hotel. Those mock trials you were going to go to…"

"What about them?" Kai wanted to know.

Maggie held up her hand in a plea for patience and got up, moving to a cupboard and pulling out a small, thick pamphlet from a drawer. She came back over and held it out to the teens silently.

" 'Experience the Salem witch trails!'" Tyson read, leaning over to peer at the booklet Kai held. " 'Book your own mock-trial and discover the terror of the witches of Salem for yourself this Halloween…'" He looked up at the petite woman. "What is this?"

"It's a tourism thing. There are mock trials held year-round, you see, but those are performed by actors and actresses. On Halloween, many of the local businesses and prominent personages sponsor a special set of trials that tourists can pre-book. Basically, they have a huge, public, free-of-charge performance of a mock witch trial down near City Hall and the tourists who pre-book the event get to be a part of it by taking the place and parts of the witches who are on trial." Maggie explained quietly as Kai flipped through the booklet. "The tourists get 'kidnapped' and held 'prisoner' and when it's time for the trials, they get marched down to City Hall for the judgment and ten the conviction and 'punishment.'"

Tyson stared at her, wide-eyed. "People actually _pay_ to do this? Are they crazy?!"

Maggie shrugged. "A lot of people will do weird things for a thrill. It's the same reason people love a good horror movie, I suppose. No one gets hurt or anything, of course – since it's all in fun and education – for a price."

Kai looked up from the pamphlet and tossed it on the coffee table, his temper beginning to heat up. "Are you saying _that's_ why we were chloroformed and kidnapped? Left in that storage basement? Chased all over town?"

"I'm afraid so. You see, Mayor Rockman, who also heads the 'Trial Committee,' told me that there had been a mix-up at the hotel. The couple who had booked their 'trial' had switched rooms on their arrival, and you two were given the room they were supposed to be in. When the local people who were volunteering to play the part of the Puritan townsfolk came to the hotel to find out what the tourists looked like so they'd know who to 'capture,' the guy at the reception desk – who is brand new to the job, and didn't know of the switched rooms, by the way – told them the tourists were _you_." Maggie sat down in a rocking chair and gave the two stupefied bladers sympathetic, apologetic looks. "I'm supposed to offer you both the City of Salem's most sincere, deepest apologies and send you back to the hotel to meet His Honour, the Mayor, so he can apologize in person."

Tyson flopped backwards against the back cushions of the sofa, dazed and totally dumbfounded. Kai wasn't much better off, but his temper was on a seriously short fuse now.

"I don't believe it. All that running away we did was for nothing?! If that's why were…uh, kidnapped, then why did they keep chasing us?" The bluenette demanded.

"Mayor Rockman, when he heard what happened, told them to find you and apologize, and to explain it all to you. They chased you because they wanted to stop you and tell you everything, Tyson."

"Gods. All that…"

"Well, now that we know, I'm thinking I just want to get our belongings and leave, Kinomiya. Otherwise, I'm liable to do something drastic." Kai growled, livid. "How could anyone make such a ridiculous mistake?! ARGH!"

"I know, Kai. Reign in your temper, dude." Tyson warned, patting him on the knee. "It was a mistake. They happen. Let's just go to the hotel, talk to the Mayor and get it over with so I can eat something and pass out for a few hours before we go back to Boston, okay?"

"Hn." The phoenix scowled darkly and was so incensed that he didn't say a word, not wanting to drop his wrath on his innocent team mate.

Maggie stood, setting her teacup aside and went to a closet to pull out a hooded cloak of her own, putting it on and getting a pair of shoes from the shoe rack inside the closet.

"I will accompany you, if you don't mind, Tyson. I would like to see this whole fiasco through." She said.

"Okay. I hope you don't mind walking, though."

"Not at all." She shook her head with a small smile and led them downstairs. Maggie called to her feline companion as the two bladers put their shoes on and grabbed their jackets. "Nicodemus! Come, Kitten! We're going out."

The black cat came streaking out from seemingly nowhere and Maggie picked him up, settling him onto her shoulders comfortably then following Kai and Tyson outside.

"Maggie, I just have one question." Tyson broke the tense silence as they walked slowly in the direction of their hotel.

"What might that be, Tyson?"

"Why use chloroform?"

"Ah. Well, the whole point of the special trial is to have a realistic experience, you see. In those times, however, the townspeople would have simply beat their captives into submission and unconsciousness. But we can't do _that_, of course, so they use chloroform to knock the 'captives' out, instead. The 'abduction' is meant to simulate how many of the suspected witches were simply arrested while performing their daily schedules and tasks without any warning. All to make the experience more real for the tourists who pay for it."

"But is it legal?"

"Yes. The tourists who pay for this are required to sign a lot of forms and such, and so is the Mayor on behalf of the city, promising that no true harm or injury shall come to them, and that in the event of an accident or something the city will reimburse a full refund and offer restitution of some sort."

"I can't _wait_ to see how they plan on handling this." Kai snorted, his tone completely unimpressed and still angered at the whole situation. He walked along next to Tyson on his right, arms folded over his chest and glaring icily at the town as they passed through it.

Tyson sighed. He wasn't particularly happy with the events either, but since there was nothing he could do about it, it was easier to let go of his anger and move on. OF course, Kai wasn't the sort to let go of his temper once it was ignited quite so easily, and Tyson knew he was never going to hear the end of _this_ little adventure anytime soon. He also knew he was going to have a hard time ever convincing his angry captain to ever go on a road trip to check out the sights and play tourist again anywhere _else_ they'd travel to after this.

_One good thing that came out of all this, though,_ He mused silently, glancing at Kai surreptitiously. _Is that I now know he's at least partially interested in me, even if it is only physical interest. It's a start…_ The dragon blushed slightly and stared at the sidewalk under his feet.

"Here we are." Maggie spoke up suddenly. "I can see the hotel now."

Tyson and Kai exchanged glances and proceeded to follow the pixie-like woman the rest of the way.

"I don't see the guys they left here in case we showed." Kai murmured to Tyson. He was looking around carefully, trying to spot the guards.

The bluenette shrugged. "They probably gave up and left, Kai. It doesn't matter now, anyway."

"Hn."

They walked into the lobby of the hotel and Maggie stopped, smiling and waving at a tall, thin, balding man in black jeans and a green dress shirt. "That's our Mayor. I'll speak to him, Tyson. You and Kai can come with me or wait here, it's your choice."

Kai huffed. "I'm going up to the room. Tyson can handle this." He turned to go to the elevators.

"Ah…go ahead, Maggie. I'll be there in a minute." Tyson said over his shoulder, hurrying after the phoenix. "Kai! Wait a second…"

"What?"

"Why're you leaving _me_ to talk to this guy?" He demanded, planting his hands on his hips. "You're the captain…"

"Nice of you to remember, Kinomiya, but in this instance, I'm not. We're just tourists who got chased around all over, kidnapped, etc., etc." Kai replied evenly, leaning against the wall as he waited for the elevator. "And at the moment I'm in no mood to deal with people. You're better at it anyway, Kinomiya, so _you_ can talk to the Mayor."

"But…" Tyson sighed, rubbing his forehead as he thought about that. "Okay, fine. Just do me a favour and order up something to eat?"

"Yeah." Kai nodded shortly and pushed away from the wall as the elevator pinged and the doors slid open. He walked in and pushed the button for their floor. "And Tyson?"

"Yeah, Kai?"

"You can handle this because I trust you to know when you're being played by political manoeuvrings and public relations ploys. I'll see you up in the room." The doors closed between them and left a stunned Tyson standing there staring at the doors. The dragon hadn't heard Kai ever make a statement quite like that before.

Shaking it off and smiling a slow smile of pleased contentment, Tyson strode over to Maggie and Salem's Mayor.

"Tyson, meet Mr. Rockman. Mr. Rockman, meet Tyson Kinomiya." Maggie introduced them to each other and Tyson shook the Mayor's hand.

"Well! I certainly wasn't expecting to meet such a well-known blading celebrity. A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Kinomiya." Mayor Rockman smiled at the teen.

"Yes. And my captain, Kai, and I certainly weren't expecting to get abducted and chased all over Salem by some creeps in robes." Tyson responded coolly. The Mayor had the grace to look sheepish and very apologetic.

"About that…I'd like to offer my own and Salem's sincerest apologies, Mr. Kinomiya. I hope neither of you were hurt?"

"No. We're just dirty, hungry, and exhausted."

The older man nodded and sighed. "Yes. I can't say I blame you. Maggie told me everything. I'll make this quick, then, so you can go back to your room and get some rest."

"I'd appreciate that, sir." Tyson folded his arms over his chest in a Kai-like gesture.

"As Maggie had explained, we have this tourist program every Halloween. The program includes a room, which was sponsored by this hotel, and this year we had a young, married couple sign up for the program. However, when they got here, they wanted a larger room and were willing to pay the extra money for the upgrade."

"So what happened? How'd the mix-up happen?"

"I spoke with the hotel's manager. She said that the couple changed their room and the receptionist who dealt with them finished her shift just after that. Apparently, she forgot to leave a memo stating the change for the receptionist who came on duty after her – a new guy on his first week on the job." The man shook his head. "The hotel's offered to put you up for one extra night and to waive all your expenses so far as their apology for the mix-up."

"Well, that's very generous. We appreciate it. But I still don't understand how those cloaked dudes got Kai and I mixed up with a young married couple." Tyson stuck his hands in his pockets and frowned.

"Oh yes. I nearly forgot that part. The volunteers who play the part of the Puritan citizens who came to 'arrest' the 'witches' came by to see who they were supposed to arrest. But the new guy had no idea that the people in your room weren't the right tourists or that they weren't a young married couple. So the volunteers followed you and Mr. Hiwatari instead." Mayor Rockman explained.

"I see."

"Mayor Rockman wants to make it up to you and Kai somehow, Tyson." Maggie put in, having remained silent up to this point. "Is there anything you or Kai would like that the City of Salem could provide in restitution?"

Tyson thought about it for about…two seconds. "No. We can accept your apology and leave it at that." He replied. "We've had enough excitement for a long time. However…"

"Yes?" The Mayor inquired.

"We would appreciate everything you could do to keep the media away from us and all." Tyson eyed him. "We didn't come to Salem as World Champion bladers or celebrities. We came as tourists, just like all the others."

"You have my word, Mr. Kinomiya. I can't guarantee the press won't learn of this whole debacle somehow – they have sources that often can't be quieted. But I'll do whatever I can."

"I guess I can accept that." Tyson shook the Mayor's hand firmly. "Now, if you don't mind, I am going to bed. Goodnight, Mr. Mayor. Maggie."

"Certainly. I apologize again, and hope you enjoy the rest of your time here, Mr. Kinomiya."

"Thank you."

"Come by the shop for tea, tomorrow afternoon, Tyson. I'd like to say goodbye properly before you and Kai return to Boston for your tournament." Maggie smiled and waved.

"Will do! Bye, Maggie. Thanks for everything." Tyson hauled himself to the elevator and rode up to his floor in silent exhaustion. He dragged himself to the room and knocked on the door for Kai to let him in.

"Let me in, dude, before I fall over." Tyson groaned and the door swung open. Kai stood there in his night-clothes (which were nothing more than he'd worn the night before), and pulled the bluenette inside.

"Get in here, Kinomiya. The food's already here."

At the mention of food, the dragon perked up a bit and let Kai direct him into the room.

They ate in a companionable silence, then finished getting ready for bed. Tyson took a shower to get clean from all the sweat and dirt he'd accumulated all night.

When he got out, Kai was already in bed and asleep on his side. Too tired to even think about waking him up so they could talk, the bluenette crawled in next to the phoenix and dropped off instantly.

* * *

**Authoress' Endnotes:** Okay, FYI – I don't know the geography of Salem or whether there is a Best Western on the southeast side. I'm making it up, so don't get on my case about it. I also don't know if chloroform is legal or not… though I suspect it isn't. Let's all pretend it is, though. Anyway, more to come! **Please R/R!!!!**


	6. Part 06

**Authoress' Notes: **_cracks knuckles_ Alrighty then! (Dryad: Get ready folks, cause Kali's out of classes for a few weeks and she's got the writing bug!) You betcha! Classes, papers, and exams are done like dinner and I'm gonna update until I'm blue in the face! (pending a decent amount of reviews, of course) Let's do this thing, muses!

**Disclaimer:**Don't own! Don't sue!

**Warnings:**Yaoi, language, fluffiness, etc. _**FanFiction. Net readers:** if you're looking for the NC-17 version of this fic, go to either my homepage (see my bio), Only TyKa Hotness, Mediaminer. org (FireKali), or Aff. Net (Yami FireKali) – though I haven't gotten that far yet…sorry about that._

**Pairing:**TyKa! Hints of ReMa and Kenny/Hilary, too.

**Hallowed **

**Part 06**

Sleep-heavy, storm-blue eyes opened slowly as Tyson woke up from his much needed slumber into semi-consciousness. Blinking away the grittiness in his eyes, he focused on the view from where his head rested on his pillow without moving a muscle.

What he saw was the curve of a black denim-clad butt and hip, that elongated down the length of the bed in a leg. It took the bluenette's fuzzy mind a moment but he finally figured out it was Kai sitting next to him. Moving only his eyes, Tyson looked up and saw the slight frown of concentration marring Kai's forehead as he read the newspaper in his hands, crimson eyes following the flow of words at a rapid pace.

A slight smile crossing his face, Tyson simply lay there and watched his captain read, enjoying the ultra-rare chance to observe Kai in an unguarded moment thoroughly.

The older teen didn't notice Tyson's waking state nor the long period of time he was being observed by heavy-lidded blue eyes. In fact, it was quite by accident that when he happened to glance down at Tyson as he proceeded to flip pages in the newspaper he noticed the dragon was awake and watching him silently. Kai blinked twice in surprise then flushed a bit as he wondered just how long Tyson had been awake and staring at him with that altogether too sexy, mussed, and hungry expression. Just that look made a small tingle of heat flow up Kai's spine then pour back down to pool in his groin.

"Hi." He finally said in a quiet, thick voice. "You slept well."

Tyson blinked lethargically and looked up, meeting Kai's burning gaze with his own smoky one, and smiled.

"Hi. Yeah, I did. I was totally exhausted last night." He shifted propping himself up on one arm, a few strands of midnight blue hair flopping into his eyes. "Did you get enough sleep?"

"Hn." Kai nodded, carefully folding his newspaper in an effort to keep himself from indulging and reaching out to run his fingers through the very inviting mass of the younger blader's hair. "So what did the Mayor have to say last night, Kinomiya?" He asked, hoping to divert Tyson's attention away from him and get those gorgeous eyes to quit devouring him like a starving man.

"Huh?" Tyson snapped himself out of the happy fantasy he'd been having. "Oh. We got an apology and he asked what he (or the city) could do to make it up to us. I told him nothing, just keep the media away from us. And the hotel is apparently waiving all our expenses and putting us up for an extra night if we want."

Kai got up and went to his suitcase, dropping the newspaper on the TV stand next to the TV. "I've had about enough of this place, Kinomiya. Do _you_ want to stick around?"

"Nah. We need to get back, anyway. The tournament's tomorrow, and we should get _some_ training in, I suppose." Tyson sighed heavily and rolled out of bed, stretching out the kinks in his muscles.

Kai tore his eyes away and swallowed hard. "Oh Gods." He muttered, not realizing he'd spoken aloud. Tyson paused in mid-yawn and glanced over in question, catching the flare in the phoenix's darkening crimson eyes before he'd turned away. A slow smirk slid over his features and, after giving Kai a short, considering look, pulled his shirt off over his head and grinned wickedly.

"Hey, Kai?" He said in a playful, innocent tone.

Unwillingly, knowing that the World Champion was up to something, Kai turned around and opened his mouth to ask, "What?" in a hoarse voice – which made him cringe.

"Catch."

Tyson's sleep-shirt came flying toward him and draped over Kai's head, before he could react and catch it. Kai's hands flew up to pull the shirt off his head.

…But not before he noticed the warmth radiating from the light cotton material after being close to Tyson's skin, absorbing his body heat, all night. And not before he inhaled the bluenette's scent deeply, making him shiver imperceptibly and his pulse speed up.

He tugged the shirt off his head and felt his heart stop at the vision of a half naked Tyson – ripped, muscular upper body and abdomen, golden skin tone, and all. The knowing smile Tyson was wearing shot straight to his groin and gave his heart a jump start again.

"Wha…?" He rasped, eyes widened in helpless lust. Tyson's smile went wider and he swaggered right up to his captain, stopping toe to toe with him and looking up through his bangs at the slightly taller blader.

"Hmm…I believe you and I had something to talk about." He purred, sliding his hands up Kai's chest, the material of the purple, long-sleeved cotton turtleneck shirt bunching up a bit as they moved.

Kai closed his eyes and gave in. "_Kinomiya_…less talk, more kissing."

"As my captain commands…" Tyson's hand slid around the back of Kai's neck, his fingers diving into darker slate blue hair, and drawing his head down to meet the dragon's lips. Kai raised his hands and rested them on Tyson's hips, drawing him closer along the length of Kai's front. Tyson's body heat made his head spin – or maybe it just made the heat from their kiss even hotter. Kai made a small noise of pleasure deep in his throat and opened his mouth to Tyson's tongue when it flicked over his bottom lip.

Tyson sighed deeply into the passionate kiss after a long few minutes of snogging the hell out of one another, slowly bringing their urgent kissing to a halt, until their lips were simply pressed together firmly. Lips tingling and swollen from kissing, the bluenette finally broke contact with Kai's mouth, though he didn't pull away.

The phoenix sucked in much needed oxygen and nudged his nose against the dragon's, licking his lips and savouring the lingering taste of Tyson.

"I so needed that." Tyson ran his hands restlessly over Kai's shoulders and upper arms, nudging Kai back and stealing a few smaller nips at Kai's mouth. The captain blushed but kissed back willingly, wrapping his arms tightly around the younger blader's slightly smaller form.

"We need…" Kai began, but found he couldn't continue, his voice hitching.

"…To talk, I know." Tyson released him reluctantly and bent to pick up his shirt, slipping it back on over his head. "I don't think there's any doubt what this means, though." Tyson smiled and planted another hard kiss on Kai before moving to sit on the bed. He patted the mattress beside himself. "Sit, Kai."

Kai did so, tucking his legs under himself and facing his team mate. "No, that doesn't need discussion. But…what do we do about it?"

"Well, if it was up to me, I'd have ripped off your clothes and pinned you to the bed by now." Tyson replied honestly, blushing a bit. "However, I am not about to make you do anything that you don't want to do. You've had enough of that in your life and I will not be another person like that to you."

"I know, Kinomiya." Kai whispered, looking down at his hands in his lap and plucking absently at his pant leg. "I've always known that I could trust you, even when I'm being a complete bastard to you. You've never pushed me away and you…you've always been there."

Tyson gave him a shaky smile. "Hey, I try! It's what friends do, after all."

"Yes." Now Kai looked up, his burning gaze intense on Tyson's. "You taught me that, too. I…I want you to know I'll always call you a friend, no matter what else should happen."

The bluenette slid closer, his knee bumping Kai's. "Same here. We're friends first and last. But…" He began.

"I want more." Kai continued, his thoughts travelling the same track as his friend and rival. "This…relationship is much more than friendship to me, Kinomiya. I need to know if it can be for you, too." His eyes searched Tyson's, a nearly desperate desire and need in his steady gaze. "I need to know if that conversation we had in the car…when you said you knew you were gay because you'd fell in love with a guy…"

"You, Kai." Tyson interrupted, halting the flow of Kai's words and finally having the courage to confess what he'd kept so desperately secret to himself for years now. "I love you and I always have."

Kai stared at him, his heart pounding in his ears and his breath catching. He felt light-headed and weak all of a sudden – and he liked it. _So this is love? This is humankind's most hallowed emotion. Gods! I've been missing out. But maybe…maybe I'll get the chance to make up for lost time…_ Raising a slightly trembling hand, he placed his palm gently over Tyson's cheek, and offered his love in the only way he knew how – silently, letting Tyson see through all his barriers and walls right through to his soul.

The dragon's answering smile was competition enough for the sun and wobbled slightly as a single, silvery tear slipped down his cheek. Words weren't needed between them any longer as Tyson launched himself forward to wrap his arms around Kai's neck and plant a few swift kisses to the phoenix's mouth before burying his face in Kai's hair, holding him tightly as if he'd never let go. Kai let out a deep, shuddering sigh and wrapped his own arms around the younger blader just as tightly.

"I'm so glad we came up here." The dragon murmured into Kai's hair, not moving an inch.

Kai made a questioning noise and let his unpainted cheek rest on Tyson's shoulder, his face turned into the bluenette's neck.

"We might never have ended up this close if we hadn't." Tyson explained.

"Maybe. I think one of us would have cracked eventually." Kai smiled a bit against Tyson's neck, and Tyson laughed.

"Oh, probably."

"Tyson…" the phoenix began, then stopped, unsure how to say what he wanted to. The other teen simply waited, knowing Kai needed a moment to think before continuing. Then his stomach made hungry noises and the older blader pulled away, blinking at Tyson in amused surprise.

"Ah…heh heh! I guess I'm hungry." Tyson blushed and ran a hand through his messy hair. "Sorry, love."

Kai felt a warm tingle at the endearment and let out a short laugh. "Leave it to your stomach to break up a moment, Kinomiya."

"I can't help it." Tyson stuck out his bottom lip in a pout and looked at the alarm clock. "I'm going to get dressed so we can go eat." He got up and went to his bag.

Kai nodded. "Pack up your stuff, too. No use making an extra trip back after breakfast for it."

"Okay." Tyson dug through his clothes, looking for clean ones. "Oh, by the way, Maggie invited us over for tea so she could say goodbye to us."

"When?"

"This afternoon."

"We'll stop by on the way out of town."

"Sound's good." Tyson brushed past Kai with his clothes and went into the bathroom to change and get ready.

* * *

An hour and a half later the two teens were walking into Maggie's shop.

"Does she always leave her shop unattached?" Kai wondered aloud, glancing around.

"She probably just went into the back for a minute, Kai. Quit being so critical." Tyson admonished, rolling his eyes.

"I'm not being critical, Kinomiya, I was just making an observation." Kai folded his arms and huffed at his boyfriend. It made his heart beat a little faster to know he could call Tyson that now.

"In your case, it's the same damned thing." The bluenette drawled, leaning against the counter by the cash register. "But I suppose it's just one of many things I love about you." He grinned at Kai's faint blush. "Ooh! I got a blush!"

"Whatever." Came the grumbled response.

Tyson, in a rare moment of thinking before acting, stopped teasing the older blader and turned to call out, "Maggie? Are you here?"

"I'll be right out, Tyson!" Her voice called back.

"Okay!" Tyson turned back to Kai and saw him studying a shelf full of little statuettes and ornate boxes. "Maggie has a lot of really neat stuff, Kai. You should look around a bit and see if there's anything you want."

Kai picked up an Egyptian-style jewellery box and gave the dragon a sceptical look. "There's nice stuff, yes, but honestly, Kinomiya…what would I _do_ with something like this? It has no practical purpose other than to look pretty." Kai put the box back with a small 'clunk' of sound.

"Oh, for heaven's sake. That's the point, love. Everyone needs a little frivolity in their lives. Besides, I think that box would look really nice in your room back home." Tyson sighed. "I know Gramps has a thing for Feng Shui lately, but your room has no personality at all."

"Just because I don't plaster posters all over my walls and leave stuff all over the floors…"

"Hey! I do _not_ leave my things lying around. And I _like_ my posters! What's wrong with them?" Tyson protested. "You even bought me that movie poster for _The Matrix_, remember?"

"No, Tyson. I loaned you the money to buy it because you'd just blown all your money on clothes for school." Kai gave him a mild glare. "Which, by the way, you still owe me for."

"Uh…oh yeah!" The dragon tapped a finger against his lips thoughtfully. "How about you pick one totally useless, but nice, thing that you like and I'll buy it for you in repayment?"

"Kinomiya…"

"Please? For me?" Tyson gave him his best chibi look.

"That's hitting below the belt, Tyson." Kai winced, looking away. "I'll do anything for you and you know it."

Insanely pleased with that confession, Tyson grinned happily. "That's so sweet! Excuse me while I melt in to a puddle…"

"Baka. Cut that out."

"Sorry. Couldn't resist."

"Resist harder."

Tyson ginned as his boyfriend blushed even more and wandered over to look at the shelves Kai was standing in front of. "Come on, Kai. Just one thing?"

"Alright, alright. Leave me alone, Tyson. I'll look around." Kai shooed the younger teen away, just as Maggie came out from the back of her shop.

"Good afternoon, you two." She greeted them, smiling as she watched Kai continue to wander around her shop. She had heard the last part of their conversation, and was glad they had seemed to work out their feelings toward each other.

"Hi, Maggie!" Tyson returned, giving her a wide grin. "How's it goin'?"

"Just fine, thank you." Maggie set the tea tray she carried down on the counter next to her cash register. "you seem to be well-rested, Tyson."

He nodded and looked down at his feet when he felt something rub up against this legs. "Hey, Nicodemus." Tyson bent and picked up the cat, who began purring loudly. "Yeah, I am. Kai and I got a really good sleep last night."

"And in _your_ case, most of today." Kai added with a smirk on his face, coming up behind the younger teen.

"Yeah,, and you went to sleep before I did." Tyson shot back, turning and holding out his hand. "What'd you pick?"

"This." Kai set a small wooden box in the palm of Tyson's hand. "I can keep Dranzer in it when she's not on my blade."

"Oooh!" The bluenette examined it happily and set it on the counter. "Very good choice, Kai. See? That wasn't so bad, was it?"

Maggie smiled and took the box, carefully peeling the price tag off the bottom and ringing up the sale. "In fact, that's what this box was made for. It's very old, and used to be home to some noble's blade, though I haven't been able to find out who, yet."

"Cool."

They stood chatting over their tea for a while (or Maggie and Tyson did – Kai just sipped his tea and listened). When Kai finished his tea, he set his teacup back on the tray and straightened.

"I'm going to run next door for a second, Kinomiya. Dranzer's defence ring got cracked last night breaking down that door. I'll be right back and then we'd better head back to Boston." The phoenix said, turning to leave.

Tyson blinked and watched him walk out. "Uh…okay." When he was gone, the dragon shrugged. "Weird. Oh well, that's my Kai."

"I'm sorry, Tyson, but you've lost me. What's weird?" Maggie inquired.

"Oh, just that Kenny has replacement parts for all of our blades that he gets directly from the BBA…so Kai doesn't _need_ to get a new defence ring for Dranzer." Tyson explained. "But Kai never does anything normally so whatever."

"I see."

"By the way…" The bluenette pulled out a packet from his jacket pocket and set it on the counter, reaching up and removing his charm necklace. "I wanted to return this, since I don't need its help anymore. I didn't want to just throw it away or anything, though."

Maggie's smile made him blush. "I'm happy to see that it worked out for you, Tyson." She said gently. "Keep it. As a reminder and a memory. But also because it just smells very pretty and will keep your clothes fresh smelling if you keep it in a drawer." Maggie winked at him. "My charms are multi-purpose."

Tyson laughed and nodded, tucking the two items away into his jacket pocket. "Okay. And thanks again, Maggie. Although, to be honest, I probably didn't need the extra help."

"Perhaps not. But sometimes we just need a little something extra to boost our courage and inspire us. That was the charm's true purpose." The petite woman explained. Tyson nodded and set Nicodemus, who he'd been holding with one arm the entire time contentedly, down on the counter.

"Yeah. Sorry, Nico! My arm was getting tired." He apologized to the cat when he gave the bluenette a disgruntled meow.

Fifteen minutes passed and the door chimes were set off once more as Kai returned.

"We should go, Kinomiya, before it gets much later." Kai said, glancing at his watch.

"Yeah, alright. What took you so long, anyway? I mean, how much effort does it take to look at defence rings and pick one?" Tyson inquired, giving his captain a questioning look. He blinked in surprise, though, when Kai turned a tad pink.

"It just did. But I got it , so now we can leave." The older teen folded his arms and looked away, glancing at his watch again for emphasis.

Tyson rolled his eyes. "Patience." He grinned at Kai's mild scowl and turned to Maggie. "I guess we're leaving, Maggie. Thanks again for everything, and if we're ever around again, I promise we'll stop by to visit."

"You're very welcome, Tyson. And I hope you do visit again someday." She responded, looking around him at his stoic team mate. "And you also, Kai."

"Hn." Kai inclined his head in acknowledgement. "Thank you for your hospitality, Maggie."

She just smiled.

"Well, goodbye! See you, Nicodemus!" Tyson patted the black feline in farewell and turned to follow his boyfriend out the door.

"Farewell! And good luck with your tournament!" Maggie called after them, waving.

* * *

Outside Maggie's shop, Kai had pulled out his car keys and reached out to grab Tyson's hand.

"Hey! What…?" The dragon exclaimed, startled.

"Here." Kai slapped the keys into his hand. "You drive. I want to sleep on the way back." He dropped Tyson hand and strode around to the passenger side, getting in. Tyson shook his head and a slow grin spread across his face.

He slid into the driver's side and buckled his seatbelt before turning on the car. "I don't know about you, but I'm so ready to go back." Tyson said as he turned the car on and pulled out of their parking spot, heading into traffic.

"Hells yes." Kai agreed, leaning back in his seat and resting his head on one arm behind it, the other resting comfortably at his side with that hand on his leg. Closing his eyes behind his sunglasses, he continued, "Just don't hit anything or get pulled over for speeding, Kinomiya."

"Come on, love. Give me some credit, won't you?"

"Hn."

Tyson glanced at him. "So why did it take you so long to get that defence ring?" He saw the faint tinge of pink on Kai's cheeks again. "Okay, 'fess up! Why are you blushing?"

"I lied. I had to go get something else from the pharmacy down the street." Kai muttered his admission.

"What?"

"Just…something. Watch the road, Tyson, not me."

Tyson whipped his head back to pay attention to his driving. But he'd caught the deepening blush. "What could possibly be so important you had to buy it now…oh. Oh!" Realization dawned and now Tyson blushed bright red, gripping the steering wheel so hard his knuckles turned white. "Ah…wow, Kai. You sure think ahead, don't you?"

Kai slouched in his seat, refusing to look at his soon-to-be lover. "Yeah, well, I figured it would be best since we'll probably be all over ach other at the first opportunity."

Chuckling huskily, Tyson smiled. "Oh, no doubt. Good thinking, Kai." He reached out and slid his hand into Kai's on his lap, squeezing. The phoenix sighed and wound their fingers together, bringing their joined hands up to brush a soft kiss across the dragon's knuckles. He got a pleased little purr for the gesture and smiled. Kai, who wasn't an affectionate kind of guy, was surprised to realize he didn't feel silly or embarrassed to show how much he cared for Tyson…at least, not here in private where no one was looking. He wouldn't be so sure about public places. Like a full bey-stadium. It just felt totally natural to be close to Tyson like this.

They drove on for a long while in silence, their hands still joined loosely. After a while, Kai suddenly spoke up, giving Tyson a jolt of surprise because he'd thought the dual-haired phoenix had been sleeping.

"I love you, Tyson." He said, in a way that was almost casual, as if he said something like that all the time. Tyson, however, absolutely melted and felt his eyes water. He'd known, of course, and didn't need the words, but the bluenette couldn't help feeling all misty-eyed and tingly-warm at hearing those three little words from Kai – and out of nowhere with no prompting or anything, either. He sniffled a bit.

"I love you, too." Tyson replied thickly.

Kai smiled to himself, relaxing completely in the bluenette's presence and the shared emotion they had for each other. He absently used his thumb to stroke back and forth across Tyson's knuckles. "I know. I don't deserve it."

"Bah. What nonsense is that? If anything, you deserve better than me, Kai."

"And what nonsense is _that_?" Kai scoffed in return. "I don't want anyone else. I want _you_, Tyson, and no one else."

"You've got me." Tyson confirmed softly. "I've always been yours, Kai."

The crimson-eyed blader said nothing – but then, he really didn't need to. They understood each other. Because, even without saying it, Kai belonged to Tyson just as much, if not more.

And he fully intended that to be a fact forever.

* * *

Tyson pushed open the door to the Bladebreakers' suite then picked up his bags and walked in, Kai right behind him.

"Guys! We're back!" The bluenette called out. He looked around, not seeing anyone, and glanced at Kai. "No answer."

"Well, it is nearly 5:30 pm, Kinomiya. They're all probably gone someplace for supper."

"Hmm…that's an idea. Except I don't feel like going any place, now."

"Room service. By the time we're done, they'll probably be back."

"Okay. I'll phone." Tyson, in a very good mood, bounced over to the phone sitting on the counter in the kitchenette of the suite. His hand hovered over it for a moment as a thought hit him. "Hey, Kai?"

"Hn?" Kai glanced over his shoulder and gave Tyson a questioning look.

"Why don't you move your stuff into my room and Kenny's into your room?" Tyson suggested in a nonchalant voice. Kai blinked at him and didn't even have to think about it.

"Yeah." The crimson-eyed blader waved at Tyson. "Hurry up and order, would you?" Kai turned, his and Tyson's bags tossed over his shoulder, and disappeared down the hall.

A slow, silly grin spread across his face and Tyson, feeling a pleasant tingling sensation all over, picked up the phone and dialled.

* * *

Half an hour later, he and Kai were sitting next to each other in the living room of the suite, on the floor, at the coffee table, going steadily through the food Tyson had ordered up earlier.

"Hand me a napkin, please, Kai? I dribbled." Tyson glowered down at his shirt, where a few small drips of tomato sauce had dropped on his shirt.

Kai swallowed and handed him one, shaking his head. "If you didn't wolf your food down you wouldn't get sloppy."

"Oh, shut up and eat your chicken." Tyson grumbled, wiping at his shirt. He set the napkin down and moved to pick up his fork again, but was suddenly yanked toward Kai and kissed hard. "Mmph!"

"You had sauce on your mouth." Kai muttered against his lips, his tongue flicking out to clean up the red sauce at the corner of Tyson's mouth. Tyson's eyes were closed and he made a noise that said he really didn't care as long as Kai kissed him again. The dual-haired teen obliged, one hand coming up to cup Tyson's face as their kiss deepened.

They broke apart slowly. Tyson sighed heavily and nudged his nose against the phoenix's.

"Kai…"

"Shh…" Kai gave him another quick peck and pulled away, going back to his food. "Finish eating, Tyson."

Head spinning pleasantly, Tyson obediently picked up his fork and began eating again.

At that moment, the door to the suite opened and the other four members of their team trooped in. Max was the first to spot their team mates and flew across the room to glomp Tyson in greeting.

"Tyson! Hey buddy! You're back!"

"Ooph!"

"Max, for crying out loud…" Kai scowled mildly and pried the blonde off his dragon. "Watch what you're doing. You almost knocked our supper off the table."

"Oh! Whoops. Sorry, Kai!" Max crawled over to sit on Tyson's other side and watched as the two continued to eat.

" 'Bout time you got back, guys." Hilary admonished, sitting on the sofa. Rei and Kenny joined her.

"Yeah. I guess Salem was more interesting than you thought it would be, huh?" Rei guessed.

Kai and Tyson exchanged looks.

"That's one way to put it, I suppose." Tyson said, winking at his boyfriend slyly.

Kai snorted. " 'Interesting' isn't the word I'd use to describe it, Kinomiya."

"No, I guess not. Oh! Wait here, guys!" Tyson got up and dashed off to his room.

"Where's he going?" Kenny wondered.

"Probably to get this souvenirs." Kai responded, putting butter on his dinner bun. "He spent enough on the stuff."

"I heard that." Tyson huffed, returning with his purchases. He began handing them out to his friends. "And it's not true. I got all this stuff at a great deal from Maggie, Kai. For Nicodemus jumping on me, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah."

"It sounds like you have a story to tell us." Max looked back and forth at them, blue eyes widening.

"No. Not really, Max. but I did score some awesome souvenirs for you guys, since you didn't get to come along." Tyson smiled as he finished handing out his gifts and took a seat next to Kai once more.

"Thanks a lot, Tyson!" Max exclaimed, opening his gift. "Neat book!"

"Yeah! I can add mine to my library at home." Kenny agreed, immediately flipping through it.

"Ooh…Bastet!" Rei laughed, flashing fang at the bluenette. "Thanks, pal." He turned the statue over in his hands, studying it.

"You're welcome, guys. Glad you like them."

A squeal came from Hilary as she unwrapped her tarot cards. "Yay! Thanks, Tyson! Hey, Kenny, can I do a reading on you?"

"Uh…" Kenny glanced at his girlfriend warily, knowing how much she was into the fortune-telling thing.

"Tarot cards, huh? I think Hilary should do a reading on our esteemed captain and the World Champion, here." Rei drawled, watching the two bladers in question with knowing golden eyes. He saw the way they were interacting, different than before they'd left – they sat knee to knee at the coffee table, and Rei noticed the occasional brush of a hand across Kai's leg from Tyson and the way Kai would look at Tyson…his expression would change subtly to a softer, contented look the neko-jin had never seen on the phoenix's face before. All in all, they seemed perfectly comfortable with one another, like they had known each other forever – or were long-time lovers.

Four pairs of eyes landed on the two strongest bladers in the world.

"What? Why are you all looking at us like that?" Tyson demanded, flushing under their scrutiny. Kai frowned at Rei and crossed his arms over his chest.

"They want to know if we've suddenly decided to…" Kai began to state, but was cut off by Max.

"…Stop tip-toeing around each other and finally do nasty, but fun, things to each other?" The blonde finished, that bright, innocent expression belying the not-so-innocent question.

Tyson spit out his mouthful of water he'd just sipped. "Max! What kind of question was that?! And in front of a girl?!" He blushed bright red.

Hilary giggled. "Oh, relax, Tyson. I've been hanging around you boys long enough to have had my good impressions of you erased."

"_Hilary _?!"

She waved his incredulous exclamation off. By now, even Kai was turning a little pink. "So? Spill it, boys. Are you two dating or what?"

"You guys are extremely snoopy, did you know that?" Tyson grumbled. Kai, tired of the entire conversation, looked at his boyfriend, reached out, grasped Tyson by the shirt, and yanked him over so he could plant yet another hard kiss on the dragon. Tyson made a startled sound and helplessly clutched at Kais' shoulders as he fell, off-balanced, into the phoenix's lap.

Kai released Tyson and the bluenette gave in to his instincts and crawled the rest of the way into the dual-haired teen's lap, cuddling in with a sigh.

"Does that answer your question, Hilary?" Kai asked, voice roughened. He glanced at the dragon in his lap and rolled his eyes. "Do you mind, Kinomiya? You might be finished eating, but I wasn't."

"Suffer. You're the one who can't keep his hands off me." Tyson shot back, further snuggling into Kai's chest and wrapping the phoenix's arm around his waist himself, holding it there.

"Say what?"

"It's true." Tyson's grin was smug and a bit goofy at the same time.

Max was giggling and Rei was trying to smother his laughter – but failing miserably. Kenny just sighed and shook his head with an, "It's about time." before sticking his nose back into his new book.

Hilary clapped her hands in excitement. "Fantastic! Max, Rei, you both owe me $20."

That got her four stares – two of confusion and two that were sullen.

"Wait a second…" Tyson frowned at his friends.

"You all had a _bet_ on us?" Kai scowled at them.

Three sheepish expressions crossed their faces.

"Idiots." The team captain's arm tightened around Tyson. "Forget your silly bet. We've got a few hours to train, still. So get ready and we'll do a few drills, maybe swim a few laps." Kai said in his 'captain' voice, nudging Tyson to get up. They stood and Kai pulled the bluenette toward the hall. "Oh, and Kenny? We moved your stuff to my room and my stuff into Tyson's." He said over his shoulder.

Kenny didn't even look up. "Whatever." He waved a hand in the general direction they had gone.

The last comment they heard from the living room was from Hilary."

"You guys _still_ owe me $20."

* * *

**Authoress' Notes:** I love confessions. They're always so fluffy… Please R/R! 


	7. Part 07 censored

**Authoress' Notes: **Finally…the last chapter! It's a Halloween fic that's taken me a long time to write! U Eh heh… Anyway, this one just wraps things up, and there is a **LEMON**, but not if you're reading this on ff. net. shrugs Sorry, but I don't wanna get booted again for that. So see below for where to go for the adult content…and be advised that **if you're underage, I am not responsible for you!**

**Disclaimer:**Don't own! Don't sue!

**Warnings:**Yaoi, language, fluffiness, etc. _**FanFiction. Net readers:** if you're looking for the NC-17 version of this fic, go to either my homepage (see my bio), Only TyKa Hotness, Mediaminer. org (FireKali), or Aff. Net (Yami FireKali) – though I haven't gotten that far yet…sorry about that._

**Pairing:**TyKa! Hints of ReMa and Kenny/Hilary, too.

**Hallowed **

**Part 07**

The team trained until nearly 9 pm that evening. When it was done, Tyson was just so worn out that he simply stripped down to his boxers and crawled under his covers, collapsing into a near-dead sleep with little effort.

Kai, on the other hand, was still very much awake. Still, he decided it would be better if he got as much rest as he could so he wouldn't be yawning at the tournament in the morning.

With that decided, the dual-haired blader had a quick shower and changed into his night clothes. When he got back out to the bedroom, however, he had to stop and look back and forth between the two beds.

_Oh, the temptation._ He thought wryly, sweatdropping at his own indecision. _I really should avoid it, and sleep in the other bed…but I just know if he wakes up and I'm not in bed with him, he'll jump to the wrong conclusion and freak out on me._ Kai watched Tyson sleep a moment longer then sighed resignedly. It had sounded like no more than an excuse, even to him – and a really lame one at that.

_Admit it._ He told himself, going to the occupied bed and gently shoving Tyson over a bit so he could slide in with him. _I **want** to be close to him as often as possible and I **want** to sleep with him – even if its only to sleep this time._ Settling onto his side, facing Tyson, Kai sighed and relaxed, closing his eyes and waiting for sleep to claim him.

_Hell. I'm so hopeless when it comes to you, Tyson._ Was his last thought before he fell completely asleep.

* * *

He was jolted awake the next morning by the shrill ringing of the phone. Kai grumbled a curse under his breath and reached out, grabbing the phone and listening to the pre-recorded message of the hotel's wake-up call before slamming it back down again and reaching blindly for the covers to yank them up over his head again. 

Discovering that took too much effort, he gave up and just lay there in a state of half-wakefulness.

However, the crimson-eyed phoenix was slowly becoming more and more aware, and eventually he noticed there was a familiar weight pressed to his back as he lay on his stomach. That weight shifted when he groaned, and Kai cracked open an eye owlishly when he felt Tyson's soft lips dropping small, loving kisses slowly over his shoulders and to the nape of his neck.

"Tyson…what are you doing?" He mumbled into the pillow, not moving a muscle.

"Hmm…saying good morning, my love." The bluenette replied between kisses. A calloused hand joined in the 'greeting' and slid under the bottom hem of Kai's tank-top, slowly stroking circles over Kai's bare back. "I like waking up next to you, Kai."

"Are you always this cheerful and affectionate in the morning?" Kai inquired in a sleep-roughened voice.

"Couldn't tell you. I've never had a significant other to sleep with, before." Tyson smiled against Kai's shoulder blade. "Want me to stop and leave you alone?" He asked after a pause, removing his hand from under Kai's shirt.

The older teen blew out a breath and rolled over to face Tyson. He reached out and slid an arm around Tyson's waist, pulling the shorter teen closer to him and resting his forehead against Tyson's.

"No, I don't want you to stop." He murmured, kissing the tip of Tyson's nose. "But we can't start something we won't have time to finish. That's the problem." Kai felt obligated to point out that little glitch, then proceeded to memorize his dragon's facial features with his lips, brushing soft kisses across dark blue eyebrows, over closed eyelids, and down across Tyson's cheek. Tyson made a husky purring noise and rolled them both over so that Kai was on his back with the bluenette straddling his waist and lying chest to chest on top of him.

Pouting, Tyson ran his fingers through Kai's dual-shaded hair. "No fair. Couldn't we let the others sleep in? Just this once?"

Kai shook his head, staring up into sexy, sleep-heavy blue orbs that were darkened to a smoky blue-grey with love and desire as they stared back. "Sorry, love. I'd really like to say 'yes,' but…"

The bluenette sighed and smiled reassuringly. "It's okay. There will be plenty of time soon. I can wait."

Kai smiled back. "I promise it will be sooner rather than later, Tyson. Now…go have a shower and get dressed while I go wake everyone else up." He instructed, patting Tyson on the backside and grinning when the younger blader gave him a mock glare and wriggled against that hand in reaction.

"I thought you said we didn't have time to play." Tyson smirked, dipping his head to capture Kai's mouth in a lusty kiss. He felt Kai's hand on his butt squeeze and broke away with a laugh, fighting back the covers and crawling off the bed and his boyfriend before temptation could overwhelm them both and they forgot that they had someplace to be. Grabbing his clean clothes, Tyson disappeared into the bathroom for a shower.

Kai ran a hand through his rumpled hair and took a few moments to fight off his raging hormones. Then he got dressed and went off to wake the rest of his team up and get them moving.

* * *

The tournament was a short and sweet one for the team. They won their matches, and enjoyed them immediately, even if they were only exhibition matches and not official competitions. Max had practically wrapped himself around Rei when he'd won his own match against Aaron from Barthez' Battalion – though that was normal. They had been with each other for long enough now that everyone was accustomed to it. Tyson, on the other hand, was able to use that impossible strength of will he possessed to keep from attaching himself to Kai when he won his own match against Johnny from the Majestics.

And Kai, realizing that Tyson was restraining himself for _his_ sake, couldn't help bestowing a small smile on the dragon.

After it was all done, the team returned to the hotel to get ready for a banquet being held that evening.

"You don't have to get all dressed up, Tyson. It's just a meal." Kai watched his boyfriend go through a fit of fashion crisis, taking clothes out of his bags and tossing them all over the room as he tried to find something he wanted to wear. His eyes widened as a pair of brief underwear landed at his feet, and for some reason he felt a bubble of laughter well up. Kai snickered, covering his mouth with a hand to try and hide his own amusement.

"Do you like this shirt, or this?" Tyson held up two different shirts. Kai just looked at him and the bluenette made a frustrated scream in his throat and tossed both on the bed on top of the growing pile. "You're lots of help! Mr. I'm-always-in-style."

Kai smirked. "It's a gift."

"Argh!"

"Okay, okay. Calm down and come here, Tyson." Kai stood and held out his hands. Pouting, Tyson walked over and allowed Kai to push him down on the bed to sit. "Let me see…" he began going through Tyson's clothes and the bluenette watched with reluctant interest. Kai was making questioning noises at some items, sounding sort of baffled.

"You have strange taste, Kinomiya." He shook his head and handed a pair of black jeans and a couple different shirts. "Here. Put those on."

"Um…okay." Tyson complied, stripping down to his underwear and changing into the ones Kai had picked. When he finished, he stood and looked down at himself dubiously. "Are you sure?"

Kai unconsciously licked his lips and crossed the floor littered with Tyson's clothes to lean in and kiss the dragon lustfully. When he pulled away, he straightened a dazed Tyson's shirt collar and said casually, "Does that answer your question?" Then he grabbed his jacket and walked to the door.

Blowing out a breath, Tyson slipped into his shoes and hurried after his captain.

* * *

It wasn't only bladers at the banquet. There were various BBA representatives and officials present, also, as well as some local politicians and a few other people Tyson had no clue who they were.

Dinner was served, and conversations flowed over the tables as the teams ate.

"So what exactly happened in Salem, anyway?" Max asked at one point. He gained the attention of the Blitzkrieg Boys and the Majestics, who were seated at the same table as the Bladebreakers.

"Salem? So that's where you two disappeared to this weekend." Robert gave Tyson a disappointed look. "And here I was hoping to get in a battle with you, Tyson."

"Sorry, Robert. But hey! I promise you we'll get one in sometime soon." Tyson grinned eagerly.

"I'll hold you to that, Tyson."

"Wait…" Tala raised a red eyebrow at them. " 'You two?' Who went with Tyson?"

"I did." Kai answered with typical shortness. He continued eating as if he hadn't said a word. Tyson smiled peacefully and took a bite of his chicken.

"He practically insisted on it, too – well, as much as Kai _insists_ on anything." Max grinned wickedly. Kai paused in cutting up his food and gave the blonde a hard glare.

"I did not. Clam up, Mizuhara, or a certain neko-jin is going to be very lonely tonight because _you'll_ be on the couch."

"Hey! I didn't do anything!" Rei protested. Max made a zipping motion across his lips and turned his attention back onto his plate.

Tyson nudged Kai under the table and met his crimson gaze when it turned on him. "Lighten up, Kai. Quit threatening your team."

"Shut up, and eat, Tyson." Kai forked up a large bite of Tyson's food and shoved it in his mouth when the bluenette opened it to make a scathing retort. The phoenix went back to his own food, satisfied that the conversation was being dropped when the others laughed and made comments about their typical squabbles, forgetting about the hints of a deeper relationship between him and Tyson as they did. Tyson frowned around his fork and pulled it out of his mouth, chewing petulantly.

A few covert glances were exchanged, however, but no one dared comment on anything. No one liked a pissed off Kai, after all.

The meal ended and the mingling began an hour later. It went on and on, and while Kai didn't mind seeing old friends and rivals, he was getting to the point where the only thing he wanted to do at the moment was throw Tyson over his shoulder and haul him up to their room.

_Gods._ He groaned at his own thoughts and watched Tyson from across the room as the chatted with Miguel from Barthez' Battalion, Oliver, Mariah, and the F-Dynasty twins, Julia and Raul. _What am I? A caveman? No…I'm a hell of a lot smarter than that. Let's see…how to get Tyson upstairs? This calls for strategy…_

Five minutes later, strategy formulated, Kai left the wall he was holding up and wandered across the room toward Tyson.

"Welcome, Kai!" Oliver greeted him as he approached, and the bluenette glanced back over his shoulder at his boyfriend. "Care to join us?"

The phoenix gave a short nod. "For a moment. I'm going in a few minutes, I think." He stopped beside Tyson and waited.

"We were reminiscing." Mariah smiled. "The last Worlds were so exciting!"

Kai merely nodded and listened. When he felt that everyone's attention was away from him once more, he picked Tyson's pocket, taking the dragon's hotel key-card and slipping it into his pocket after sticking on a post-it note he'd written a message on earlier. Again, he listened and waited.

When the conversation got boring, Kai made a show of checking his watch and looked at Tyson.

"I'm leaving, Kinomiya." He said in Tyson's ear.

"Oh! Okay." Tyson looked up at him. Kai took out the key-card and held it in front of storm grey-blue eyes so Tyson could see the note. "What…?"

"Be more careful, Kinomiya. I found that on the floor." Kai lied smoothly. "It would be very bad if you lost it."

Tyson flushed and nodded, taking the card and reading the note. His eyes widened and he put the card back in his pocket. "Yeah, it's mine alright. Thanks, Kai. I'll be more careful."

"Good. Good night, everyone." Kai briefly nodded at the group of bladers in farewell and turned, walking away.

A thrill of anticipation ran through the dragon as he thought about the note, and he shifted restlessly on his feet.

**_Wait 5 min. then meet at elevator.

* * *

_**

He waited four minutes.

Making up some sort of excuse, like he had to go to the washroom, Tyson left the group of his friends and disappeared.

Tyson slipped out of the room without anyone noticing. He moved quickly through the halls of the hotel until he reached the bank of elevators in the hotel lobby, and pressed the 'up' button.

Tapping a foot impatiently, he glanced at a clock on the wall, kitty-corner to where he stood. The elevator pinged, drawing his attention back to it, and the doors swished open – revealing his patiently waiting, dual-haired boyfriend. Smiling, Tyson stepped inside and the doors swished shut behind him.

Kai pushed the button for their floor. "Hi." He murmured. "Any trouble getting away."

"Nope. I told them I had to 'go to the washroom,' and I'll just not come back." Tyson winked and stepped up close to Kai, reaching up to straighten his jacket lapels. "That was very sneaky of you, by the way."

"Hmm?" Kai made a questioning noise, pulling out Tyson's hair tie and combing his fingers through it, admiring the texture of the silken, blue-black strands.

"I didn't know when you managed it, but taking my key-card and pretending you found it to slip me that note was very clever." Tyson complimented him, sliding his hands back behind Kai's head and drawing him down a little so he could brush his lips across the phoenix's tantalizingly.

"Thanks. I have my moments." Kai muttered lowly and tried to press his mouth to Tyson's more firmly, but the bluenette pulled away just as the doors opened again to their floor.

"We're here. Come on, love." Tyson dropped his hands and took Kai's in his grasp, leading him down the hall to the door to the Bladebreakers' suite.

Tyson took out his key-card, pulled off the post-it note and crumpled it up to throw away later, then unlocked the door. It was difficult, however, because he was thoroughly distracted by the hands on his hips and the hot breath wafting against his skin at the curve of his neck, where Kai had buried his face from behind Tyson.

"The card goes in there, Tyson." Kai breathed huskily, pointing at the lock-box next to the door on the wall. Tyson rolled his eyes and managed to ignore the phoenix long enough to slide the card in and open the door when the little green light signalled the door was unlocked.

"Happy, oh smart-assed one?"

"No." Kai replied, nudging Tyson inside and closing the door behind them. "I won't be happy until we're naked and rolling around on a bed." He nearly purred that statement, shrugging out of his coat and quickly hanging it up in the suite's coat closet. Tyson sighed, blushing, and took off his shoes. Then he waited for Kai to do the same before pushing him up against the wall and capturing his mouth in a needy, passionate kiss that Kai immediately responded to, moaning in his throat and fisting his hands in Tyson's hair.

"You…don't know…" Tyson ground out between kisses. "…how badly…I've…God, you taste good…uhn…wanted this…_Kai_…"

"Oh yes…mmm…Tyson…I do." Kai returned against the bluenette's lips. He gasped and let his head fall back, allowing Tyson access to his neck when he felt his hands slip under his shirt and his fingertips slide just under the waistline of his pants, teasing. "I want this, too, Kinomiya." He sighed in disappointment when those hands were removed and the soft lips at his neck left him.

"That's good." Tyson chuckled and grasped Kai's hand, twining their fingers together and pulling Kai down the hall to their bedroom. "Come on, love."

* * *

**A/N: See above for places to find NC-17 material!!!! However, none of it will be posted until Jan. 09 or 10!

* * *

**

Sometime later, after Kai had passed out beside him, Tyson had to get up and get something to drink. So he slipped out of bed and tucked Kai back into the covers, grinning when the phoenix made this cute little noise and snuggled into the warm spot Tyson had left behind.

Putting on a pair of boxers and his sleep-shirt, Tyson yawned and stretched as he quietly snuck out of the room and went down the hall to the kitchenette. He was pouring himself a glass of water when the door to the suite opened and the remainder of his team mates walked in.

"Tyson! There you are!" Max got this huge look of relief on his face and glomped the bluenette. "We were worried because we couldn't find you anywhere!"

"Huh? Kai and I were tired so we came up to go to bed. I mean, come on, guys…" Tyson shied away from the stony looks from Hilary, Rei and Kenny. "It's nearly 2:30 in the morning. You guys stayed down at the banquet really late."

"For your information, Kinomiya Tyson," Hilary scolded with a dark scowl. "We were out searching for you for the last hour or so! Oliver said you'd gone to the bathroom and never came back, and we got worried!"

"Uh…whoops. I'm sorry!" Tyson waved his hands defensively. "I ran into Kai and we decided to go to bed. It's been a long day and we're still tired from Salem, too…"

Rei sighed and patted the younger blader on the shoulder. "Okay, well, next time make sure you tell one of us before you just disappear like that. No harm done."

"Yeah." Kenny agreed, adjusting his glasses. "Now, I think we should all go to bed. We do have to catch our flight home tomorrow, after all."

Tyson grinned at them and finished up his glass of water, then followed them down the hall where they split up into their rooms. Tip-toeing back to the bed, Tyson took off his clothes again and crawled back under the covers with Kai.

"Where'd you go?" The dual-haired teen's voice startled Tyson in the silence.

"Ah! Geez…I thought you were asleep." He blew out a sharp breath. "I wanted a glass of water. The others are back, now, by the way."

"Hn. Come here." Kai muttered sleepily, wrapping his arms around the bluenette and pulling him closer so that Tyson was spooned against Kai's front. The phoenix buried his face in Tyson's hair with a content sigh. "Go to sleep, Tyson. Now I can, too."

"You mean you couldn't without me? How sweet…"

"Shut up, Kinomiya."

Tyson just smiled and closed his eyes.

Some things would never change.

* * *

**Authoress' Notes:** And…it's done. Fin! Ende! Owari! I hope you all enjoyed this Halloween fic…that turned into a full-fledged fic. _sweatdrops_ It happens every time… oh well. **Please R/R!!!!**

Yami FireKali


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